Female Labor Force Participation Rate and Economic Growth in the Framework of Kuznets Curve: Evidence from Turkey

In this study, the effect of economic growth in Turkey on the labor force participation rate of women was examined in the context of the Kuznets (1955) curve in the context of the data for the quarter years of 2000Q1-2013Q4. The co-integration test of the series was performed with the ARDL boundary test approach. As a result of the cointegration test, we find that the series move together in the long run. Findings show that economic growth increases women’s labor force participation rate first but then it decreases women’s labor force participation rate. Findings indicate that there is a reverse “U” relationship between economic growth and female labor force participation. As a result of the short-term analysis, it is found that error correction coefficient of the model is negative and statistically significant.