Replication Material for COEP The Causal Effect of Economic Freedom on Female Employment & Education

While there are decades of evidence that economically free economies grow faster and are more productive than less free ones, there is less knowledge about the effect of economic freedom on groups that have traditionally been disadvantaged. I study the causal effects of large and sustained jumps in economic freedom on women’s labor force participation and primary school enrollment. I find that these jumps have a positive and statistically significant effect in both cases--economic freedom is good for women’s labor force opportunities and female education.

尽管已有数十年的研究证据表明，经济自由（economic freedom）更高的经济体，其增长速度与生产效率均优于自由度更低的经济体，但学界对经济自由之于传统弱势群体的影响仍缺乏足够认知。本研究旨在探究经济自由出现大幅且持续性跃升时，对女性劳动参与率与小学入学率的因果效应。研究结果显示，此类跃升对上述两项指标均产生了正向且具有统计显著性的影响——经济自由有利于拓展女性的劳动就业机会并改善女性教育状况。