Is Pro-Labor Law Pro-Women? Evidence from India

This paper analyses the effects of state-level differences in labor regulation on labor market outcomes of women in India. I find that labor regulation has a large negative effect on women’s economic activity, mainly employment. A one standard deviation increase in the labor regulation measure decreases the probability of a woman being economically active by 3% to 4%—the implied decrease in female labor force is 15% to 18%. There is no significant effect on the gender wage gap. Finally, labor regulation is associated with women having less say at home and a lower sex ratio.