Socio-Economic Well-Being and Women Status in Pakistan: An Empirical Analysis

Ashraf, Iram and Ali, Amjad (2018): Socio-Economic Well-Being and Women Status in Pakistan: An Empirical Analysis. Forthcoming in:

Abstract

This study has analyzed the effect of socioeconomic well-being on women's status in case of Pakistan. To overview the women's status in case of Pakistan, a comprehensive index is constructed by using social, economic and political status of women. This study follows the methodology of United Nations Development Program (UNDP) gender inequality index. Globalization, financial development, economic deprivation, secondary school enrollment and human development index have some selected explanatory variables, whereas gender inequality index (women's status) is dependent variable. The data has been used from the period of 1980 to 2014. Following the properties, differentiation of the data, Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF), Philips-Perron (PP) and Dickey-Fuller Generalized Least Squares (DF-GLS) unit root tests have been applied to check the stationarity of the variables. All variables have different order of integration, which support for Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) for observing the co-integration between the variables of the model. VECM model is used for short-run relationship of the variables. The findings of this study approve the presence of co-integration among the selected variables of the model. The results of the study illustrate that globalization has significant and negative long run relationship with women's status. This explains that by increasing the globalization the level of women's status is falling in Pakistan. The long run results reveal that economic deprivation is negatively related to gender inequality index which shows that by rising economic deprivation women's status also rise in Pakistan. The secondary school enrollment and human development index have a positive relation to the women's status, it explains by educating society and by increasing the human development the women's status can be improved. Economic deprivation has a significant and negative relationship with gender inequality index in Pakistan. This reveals that when level of economic deprivation decreases, more women join the labor force and this increase the overall women's status in case of Pakistan. The financial development has negative and insignificant relation to the gender inequality index. The study suggests that for attaining the desired level of women's status, Pakistan should improve its socioeconomic structure.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: gender inequality, socioeconomic well-being, Pakistan
• Subjects: A - General Economics and Teaching > A1 - General Economics > A14 - Sociology of Economics; D - Microeconomics > D6 - Welfare Economics > D63 - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement

References

Avornyo, R. (2014). Rural Women's Role in the Socio-Economic Growth and Well-being of Ghana: A Case Study of Women Operating within the Informal Sector. Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective, 8(1), 7.

Ali, A. (2015). The impact of macroeconomic instability on social progress: an empirical analysis of Pakistan (Doctoral dissertation, National College of Business Administration & Economics Lahore).

Ali, A. (2018). Issue of Income Inequality under the perceptive of Macroeconomic Instability: An Empirical Analysis of Pakistan. Pakistan Economic and Social Review, 56(1), 121-155.

Audi, M., & Ali, A. (2016). A Causality and Co-integration Analysis of Some Selected Socio-Economic Determinants of Fertility: Empirics from Tunisia. Bulletin of Business and Economics (BBE), 5(1), 20-36.

Becker, G. (1971). S. 1971. The Economics of Discrimination.

Bhagwati, J. (2004). In defense of globalization: With a new afterword. Oxford University Press.

Bukhari, S. A. G. (2012). Role of Women in the Development of Islamic Civilization, Jihāt al-Islām, 5(2), 7-18.

Chaudhary, A. R. and Chani, M. I. and Pervaiz, Z. (2012). MPRA Paper No. 37784, posted 1. April 2012.

Chaudhry, I. S., & Nosheen, F. (2009). The determinants of women empowerment in Southern Punjab (Pakistan): An empirical analysis. European Journal of Social Sciences, 10(2), 216-229.

David L. R. and Gelleny, R. (2007). Women’s Status and Economic Globalization. International Studies Quarterly, 51, 855–876.

Dollar, D., & Kraay, A. (2002). Growth is Good for the Poor. Journal of economic growth, 7(3), 195-225.

Duflo, E. (2012). Women Empowerment and Economic Development. Journal of Economic Literature, 50(4), 1051–1079.

Elson, D. (1991). Labor Markets as Gendered Institutions: Equality, Efficiency and Empowerment Issues. World Development, 27(3) 611-627.

Faridi, M. Z. Chaudhry, I. S and Anwar, M. (2009). The Socio-Economic And Demographic Determinants Of Women Work Participation In Pakistan: Evidence From Bahawalpur District. A Research Journal of South Asian Studies 24(2), 353-369.

Glenn, E. N. (2009). Unequal freedom. Harvard University Press. Goldin, C. (1994). The U-shaped female labor force function in economic development and economic history (No. w4707). National Bureau of Economic Research.

Gray, M. M., Kittilson, M. C., & Sandholtz, W. (2006). Women and globalization: A study of 180 countries, 1975–2000. International Organization, 60(2), 293-333.

Hakim, A. and Aziz, A. (1998). Socio-cultural, Religious, and Political Aspects of the Status of Women in Pakistan. The Pakistan Development Review, 37, 727-746.

Jalal-ud-Din, M. and Khan, M. (2008). Socio-Economic and Cultural Constraints of Women In Pakistan With Special Reference To Mardan District, Nwfp Province. Sarhad J. Agric. 24(3)

Jayaweera, W. (1997). Women, Education and Empowerment in Asia. Gender and Education, 9(4), 411-424.

Jutting, C. M. (2004). The impact of social institutions on the economic role of women in developing coutries. Oecd development centre. Working Paper No. 234

Jutting, C. M. (2005). Women’s discrimination in developing countries: A new data set for better policies. world development , 33(7) 1065-1081.

Jütting, J. P. Morrisson, C. Dayton‐Johnson, J. and Drechsler. D. (2008). Measuring Gender (In) Equality: The OECD Gender, Institutions and Development Data Base, Journal of Human Development, 9(1), 65-86.

Klein, H. G., & Nestvogel, R. (1992). Women in Pakistan: General Conditions, Approaches and Project Proposals for the Development and Vocational Qualification of Women in the Province of Punjab. Vanguard Books.

Levin-Epstein, J. (2003). Welfare women and health: the role of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

Madhani, N. (2007). Career development in management at a Pakistani university: Is gender a factor. Gender and education in Pakistan, 216-36.

Malik, S., & Courtney, K. (2011). Higher education and women’s empowerment in Pakistan. Gender and Education, 23(1), 29-45.

Mason, E. k. (2001). Engendering development: through gender equality in rights, resources and voice.

Meyer, L. B. (2003). Economic globalization and women's status in the labor market: A cross-national investigation of occupational sex segregation and inequality. The Sociological Quarterly, 44(3), 351-383.

Moghadam, V. (1999). Gender and globalization: Female labor and women's mobilization. Journal of world-systems research, 5(2), 366-389.

Moreau, M. J. (1990). Empowerment through Advocacy and Consciousness Raising: Implications of a Structural Approach to Social Work. Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, 17(2), 53-67.

Murphy‐Graham, E. (2008). Opening the black box: Women’s empowerment and innovative secondary education in Honduras. Gender and Education, 20(1), 31-50.

Naqvi, Z. F., Shahnaz, L., & Arif, G. M. (2002). How do women decide to work in Pakistan?[with comments]. The Pakistan development review, 495-513.

Neumayer, E. and De Soysa, I. (2011). Globalization and the Empowerment of Women: An Analysis of Spatial Dependence via Trade and Foreign Direct Investment. World Development, 39(7), 1065–1075.

Pakistan Economic Survey 2005-06.

Parpart, J. L. (1993). Who is the other? Apostmodern Feminist Critique of Women and Development Theory and Practice. Development and change, 24(3) 439-464.

Parpart, M. H. (1995). Feminism/Postmodernism/Development .

Pesaran, M. H., & Shin, Y. (1997). An Autoregressive Distributed Lag Modelling Approach to Coin& tegration Analysisp (No. 9514). Cambridge Working Papers in Economics.

Pesaran, M. H., & Smith, R. P. (1998). Structural analysis of cointegrating VARs. Journal of Economic Surveys, 12(5), 471-505.

Pesaran, M. H., Shin, Y., & Smith, R. J. (2001). Bounds testing approaches to the analysis of level relationships. Journal of applied econometrics, 16(3), 289-326.

Pesaran, M. H., Shin, Y., & Smith, R. P. (1999). Pooled mean group estimation of dynamic heterogeneous panels. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 94(446), 621-634.

Rahman, M. H., & Naoroze, K. (2007). Women empowerment through participation in aquaculture: Experience of a large-scale technology demonstration project in Bangladesh.

Richards, D. L., & Gelleny, R. (2007). Women's status and economic globalization. International Studies Quarterly, 51(4), 855-876.

Sathar, Z. A. and Kazi, S. (2000). Women’s Autonomy in the Context of Rural Pakistan. The Pakistan Development Review 39(2), 89–110.

Sathar, Z.A. & Mason, K.O. (1993). How female education affects reproductive behaviour in urban Pakistan. Asian and Pacific Population Forum, 6(4), 93–103.

Schimmel, B., & Pech, B. (2004). Corruption and Gender, Approaches and Recommendations for TA.

Sen, A. 1999. Development as Freedom. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Siddiqui, R., Siddiqui, R., & Akhtar, M. R. (1998). A Decomposition of Male-Female Earnings Differentials [with Comments]. The Pakistan Development Review, 885-898.

Suguna, M. (2011). Education and women empowerment in India. International journal of multidisciplinary research, 1(8), 198-204.

United Nations Development Fund for Women report (UNIFEM), 2000.

United Nations Development Fund for Women report (UNIFEM), 2008.

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 1995. Human Development Report 1995: Gender and Development. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Wood, A. (1991). How much does trade with the South affect workers in the North? The World Bank Research Observer, 6(1), 19-36.

World Bank 2000. World Development Report 2000: Attacking Poverty. New York: Oxford University Press.

World Bank. 2001b. World Development Report 2001: Attacking Poverty. New York: Oxford University Press.