Examining the relationship between infrastructure investment and employment through a gendered lens

Abstract

India is experiencing rapid rates of urbanisation and therefore cities have been expanding at a very fast pace. In fact, by 2022, India’s projected rate of urbanisation was expected to be approximately 35.9% and this number is expected to rise to 50.9% by 2047. A study carried out by the World Bank estimates that India will need to invest US$ 840 billion over the next 15 years in urban infrastructure alone in order to keep pace with a rapidly rising urban population. By 2036, roughly 40 percent of India’s population will be living in urban areas. This structural transformation may potentially be disruptive since the nature of employment changes.

This research aims to understand the impact that infrastructure investment has had on the workforce of India, particularly whether there has been a shift away from the agricultural sector towards the non-agricultural sectors. It further aims to understand whether infrastructure investment has had an impact on the female labour force participation rate, and how different this impact is for the male labour force participation rate. This research will allow for charting a direction for the policymakers of tomorrow to integrate the concept of gender into infrastructure project designs by thinking about investment decisions mindfully so as to create a move inclusive use-value of the project.

The methodology adopted for this research includes qualitative interviews paired with secondary data analysis. The secondary data analysis consists of a trends analysis, followed by a regression analysis containing variables such as gross capital formation, domestic capital expenditure, social sector expenditure and state net value added. Secondary data sources were taken from international organisations and national government data repositories. Both sets of data were analysed and key trends were identified to understand the areas in which the current policy around infrastructure is lacking. The trends analysis revealed that there is a correlation between infrastructure investment and labour force participation rates. The results of the regression revealed that there is a gendered effect when assessing the impact of gross capital formation, domestic capital expenditure, social sector expenditure and state net value added. It is therefore recommended that governments focus on increasing the female labour force participation rate by increasing access to and quality of current infrastructure by integrating gender-specific objectives into the project design as well as include more women in stakeholder consultations.

Keywords: infrastructure investment, capital expenditure, labour force participation