The Effect of Public Investment on Gender Inequalities in Employment in Turkey: Spatial Panel Data Analysis

The main aim of this study is to investigate the impact of regional public investments on male and female employment in Turkey, applying a spatial panel data analysis. The dataset covers for the period 2004-2018 and includes 26 regions at NUTS-2 level. According to the obtained empirical findings, there is a positive spatial interaction in male employment, while there is no statistically significant spatial interaction for female employment. Furthermore, while the impact of the regional public investments on male employment is positive, there is no significant impact of these investments on female employment. The impact of regional investment incentives and regional welfare on male and female employment is positive. This positive effect is higher in female employment. The impact of regional labor productivity on male and female employment is also negative. In addition, a rise in the regional labor productivity leads to further decrease female employment.