# **Introduction**

Female Labor Participation (FLP) in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region remains low relative to world standards, relative to countries at similar levels of economic development, and also relative to other prevalently Muslim countries in other parts of the world. Why this is the case is still unclear, principally for three reasons. The first is that few countries in the MENA region have regular labor force surveys. The second is that where Labor Force Surveys (LFSs) exist, they have been introduced recently and this makes the study of long-term determinants of FLP difficult. And the third reason is that, where LFSs exist, they are rarely made available to researchers. The main source of data on FLP is the ILO-EAPEP database that covers female participation rates from 1990. This source of data provides annual FLP figures for most countries in the world including MENA countries and can be used to study long-term determinants of FLP that may be available such as fertility rates or female education. However, ILO-EAPEP data fill gaps in national data with estimates and one cannot study determinants of FLP that are more short-term and related to individuals or households such as marriage or the number of children.

A recent paper (Verme, 2014) used the ILO-EAPEP data to study FLP in MENA countries for the first time testing for the U-shape hypothesis (Goldin, 1995), the dominant long-term theory in economics on FLP. This hypothesis states that FLP rates are expected to follow a U-path as they go through the process of economic development and GDP per capita increases. During the first stages of economic development, FLP rates decline as countries go through a process of economic transformation from agriculture to industry, fertility rates are high and female education is low. During later stages of economic development, FPRs increase with the relative expansion of the industry and services sectors, female education increases and fertility rate decline. The paper found the MENA region to outperform other regions in the world in terms of these structural transformation factors and to be on the upward section of the U curve in terms of GDP per capita. However, the region underperforms in terms of FLP rates and the FPR/GDP relation is hump shape for the region as a whole and can be U-shape, hump-shape or nonsignificant if countries are taken individually. Hence, the U-shape hypothesis _per se_ does not provide clear leads on why FPR in the MENA region are low.

This paper complements the study on the MENA region by focusing on Morocco and using a selection of cross-section, longitudinal and panel data. Morocco is the ideal case-study in the MENA region for a combination of factors. It is the second largest country in the region in terms of population and is the only country in the region that has large and consistent quarterly LFSs dating back to 1999. Other countries in MENA have either started LFSs later, do not have these surveys, do not have such frequency of data or do not provide to researchers the data they have. The Morocco LFS has also the distinct advantage of having a panel component that started in 2007. In addition, Morocco stands out as one of the countries that failed women the most in the MENA region in terms of FLP despite its relative good position in terms of economic development. World Bank (2013) compared 12 countries in the region in terms of male-female participation gap and found Morocco to be among the worst performing countries. Verme (2014) found that Morocco underperformed in terms of FLP across MENA countries despite the relatively better economic performance of this country.

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