Purpose In the 21st century, women continue to face discriminations enshrined in law, which is a source of inequality of opportunity and compromises gender equality in the labor market. This paper investigates the heterogeneous effect of women-friendly laws on gender equality in employment. Design/methodology/approach We employ quantiles via moments regression, as developed by Machado and Silva (2019) in a sample covering 115 developing countries from 2000 to 2021. Findings Our analysis reveals that gender-equal laws enhance gender equality in employment, in youth employment, in labor force participation and among employers. This equalizing effect is more important in countries with higher gender gaps in employment. The abolition of laws that deprive women of economic rights equal to those of men narrows the observed dispersion of gender equality in employment. Practical implications Our results suggest that governments should promote a legal and business environment that does not discriminate against women to ensure their full and equal participation in the labor market. Originality/value This study adds new insights and contributes to the burgeoning strand of literature on the gender equality effect of the Women, Business and Law environment through a heterogeneity analysis approach. Peer review The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-01-2025-0081
Dianda et al. (Sat,) studied this question.