Determinants of Women's Labor-Force Participation: An Econometric Analysis for Five Countries

Addresses three hypotheses which may help to explain the differences in the observed labour-force participation rates of women and which can be examined using micro-data from LIS. These include: the importance of income needs, the role of marriage patterns, and the effects of children. Identically-specified probit equations were estimated on five rich industrialized countries to test these hypotheses.