Arab spring protests and women’s labor market outcomes: Evidence from the Egyptian revolution

Article dans une revue: We analyze the effects of the 2011 Egyptian protests on the relative labor market conditions of women using panel data from the Egypt Labor Market Panel Survey (ELMPS). Using unique information from the Statistical Database of the Egyptian Revolution, we geocode each “martyr”, i.e. demonstrators who died during the protests, based on the location of the political incident. We construct our measure of the intensity of the protests – the district-level number of “martyrs” – and rely on a Difference-in-Differences approach. We find that the 2011 protests have reduced intra-household differences in labor force participation by increasing women's employment and unemployment relative to men. Women's employment relative to men increased in both the private and informal sectors. Our estimates suggest how economic uncertainty such as the one associated to the recent protests may undermine the importance of cultural factors and attitudes towards female work. We link these findings to the literature showing how a relevant shock to the labor division between women and men may have long run consequences on the role of women in society.

Auteur(s)

Nelly El-Mallakh, Mathilde Maurel, Biagio Speciale

Revue
  • Journal of Comparative Economics
Date de publication
  • 2018
Mots-clés JEL
J16 J21 J22 J30
Pages
  • 656 – 682
Version
  • 1
Volume
  • 46