Essays on Labor Market Outcomes for Women in Developing Countries

Abstract

This dissertation focuses on labor market issues for women in developing countries. The first chapter investigates adult life outcomes of a child sponsorship program in six developing countries, with particular attention paid to differing outcomes for men and women. Results show positive impacts on total years of education, and primary, secondary, and university school completion. Particularly large impacts are seen for women in areas where baseline female education is low. The second chapter analyzes the return to child sponsorship, and how these returns vary between men and women. We find positive effects of child sponsorship on men’s income, while the positive return to sponsorship for women is limited to increased income due to increased labor market participation. The third chapter studies labor market migration in Brazil. I use individual and firm fixed-effects to examine the return to moving for men and women. The addition of firm fixed effects does not greatly impact the return to moving for men but eliminates the positive returns measured for women when only using individual fixed-effects. This indicates that any promotion and geographical movement that women experience is not reflected in earnings.