Abstract
Female labor force participation and employment remain central concerns in labor economics, particularly in emerging economies undergoing structural transformation. This study investigates the macroeconomic and socio-demographic determinants of female employment across the 26 NUTS-2 regions of Türkiye covering the period from 2008 to 2022. Utilizing static and dynamic panel data estimation techniques, including fixed effects and system Generalized Method of Moments (GMM), the empirical framework models the female employment rate as a function of regional economic growth, female tertiary educational attainment, fertility rates, urbanization, and male unemployment dynamics. The empirical findings reveal that higher female tertiary education exerts a robust, statistically significant positive impact on female employment, confirming the human capital accumulation thesis. Conversely, total fertility rates and structural urbanization exhibit non-linear and context-dependent relationships, wherein early stages of urbanization without concurrent industrial absorption restrain female formal employment. Moreover, the dynamic estimations substantiate a substantial degree of persistence in female labor market participation over time. These results suggest that standard supply-side interventions are insufficient without coordinated social care infrastructure and targeted regional demand-side employment strategies. The study concludes with concrete policy implications aimed at mitigating gender gaps in the Turkish labor market.
