An Evaluation of the Contribution of Female Labor Force Participation on Economic Growth of Sri Lanka

Abstract

Existingliterature cited that the laborforce participation is as an influential factor of economic growth in developing nations. Female participation inthe labor force is outnumbering than male labor force participation in Sri Lanka because of the female-biased population. The general objective of this study is to identify the impact of female labor participation oneconomic growth in Sri Lanka. The study used secondary data of Economic Growth Rate, Women Labor Participation (WLP), Male Labor Participation (MLP) & Gross Domestic Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF) from 1990 to 2016 over 26 years. According to the regression analysis, there is a positive significant impact of WLP on economic growth in Sri Lanka. However, it is very low when it compares with the MLP & GFCF. The relationship between WLP & economic growth is a weak positive relationship. It is also very low when considering the relationship between the other two variable & economic growth.However, the relationship is a unidirectional relationship; from WLP to economic growth. As a summary of the conclusion, there is a considerable positive impact& relationship of female labor participation on economic growth in Sri Lanka. However, the contribution is quite lower than other influential factors of the growth equation.There are some barriers tofemale labor participation in Sri Lanka. However, it can be promoted by incorporating the policy actions for reducing barriers & in order to obtain the higher economic growth rate.