Can political empowerment increase economic participation? Reservations, public works, and female labor force participation in India

This study examines whether political empowerment of women affects their economic participation. In the context of a mandated political representation reform for women in India, we find that the length of exposure to women politicians affects overall female labor force participation. These effects arise through direct and indirect channels – political representation of women directly affects amount of work assigned to women under the recent national public works program, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, as well as their participation in small-scale businesses. Increases in these activities are offset by reductions in agricultural work and are seen across both high- and low-SES households. Greater physical safety may be one channel through which this occurs – we find greater geographic mobility among low-SES women, as measured by the likelihood of working outside the home. The findings suggest that women’s participation in politics could be a useful policy tool to increase both the supply of and the demand for labor market opportunities for women, potentially helping to stem India’s declining female labor force participation rate.

Keywords: gender; political reservations; labor force participation; empowerment; India; public works.