In this paper, I analyze how the rise to power of the Muslim Brotherhood,
marked by increased parliamentary power in late 2006 due to unprecedented
success in the 2005 elections, impacts female labor force participation in districts
in which Muslim Brotherhood candidates won compared to those in
which they did not win. I use a difference in differences estimation strategy,
using both district and individual fixed effects. Using data from the 1998,
2006, and 2012 Egyptian Labor Market Panel Survey and district-level voting
data, I match district-level electoral outcomes to individual labor market variables.
I find that compared to women in non-Muslim Brotherhood supporting
districts, women in Muslim Brotherhood supporting districts show a generally
insignificant change in likelihood of labor force participation following
the Muslim Brotherhood’s parliamentary success. The lack of a differential
trend in female labor force participation for women in Muslim Brotherhood
supporting districts holds for most subpopulations and when a Heckman correction
is used. These results suggest that the Muslim Brotherhood’s rise to
power cannot explain the decline in female labor force participation observed
in Egypt.