ERF 26th Annual Conference
The Women Empowering Effect of Higher Education
No.
ERF26_177
Publisher
ERF
Date
August, 2020
Topic
I2. Education and Research Institutions
J2. Demand and Supply of Labor
This paper analyses the effects of expansion of higher education on labor market outcomes, paying special attention to heterogeneity by gender in a context with very low female labor force participation. Exploiting a staggered rollout of constructing public universities in Egypt in the 60s-70s, the paper documents that the opening of a new university in an individual's province (governorate) increases the likelihood of obtaining a university degree. The impact is driven mainly by women, as social norms were limiting their mobility to get higher education elsewhere. The paper shows that exposure to higher education increased women’s likelihood of joining the labor force, and improved the type of jobs they take: e.g., formal, paid, and public employment. The paper also shows evidence of improved marriage outcomes, as well as higher levels of social empowerment for the exposed cohorts. Men, however, seem to be unaffected by the expansion. The effects are robust to several robustness checks.
Research Fellows
Ahmed Elsayed
Associate Professor, Economics Department and Executive Director...
Authors
Alina Shirshikova
IZA- Institute of Labor Economics in Bonn