Fertility, Health and Female Labour Force Participation in Urban Cameroon

Type Journal Article - International Business Research
Title Fertility, Health and Female Labour Force Participation in Urban Cameroon
Author(s)
Volume 3
Issue 2
Publication (Day/Month/Year) 2010
Page numbers 136-156
URL http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ibr/article/viewFile/5633/4534/
Abstract
Many studies report empirical relationship either between fertility and labour supply or, between health and
labour market outcomes. In this paper, an extension of these ideas involves explicitly considering how fertility
and health affect each other, and how they interrelate with labour force participation. A unifying framework is
provided and a simultaneous three equations model developed to capture the interdependence between these
variables as well as their respective determinants. The model is estimated using a cross-section data set obtained
from a survey of the urban Cameroon population. The results indicate that: (i) fertility and health status are
significantly interrelated, thus separate estimations of fertility (or health status) and participation will produce
misleading results; (ii) working in either sector of the labour market significantly reduces fertility but, unlike
many previous studies, fertility has a positive impact on the probability of labour force participation; (iii) there is
strong evidence that health and disability status is a significant determinant of employment, but the reverse
depend on the labour market sector and on the health indicator used.

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