Gender, Generations, and Non-Farm Participation

This paper presents an empirical analysis of intergenerational linkages in non-farm participation with a focus on gender effects. The evidence, using survey data from Nepal, shows that the mother exerts strong influence on a daughter's employment choice: having a mother in non-farm sector raises a daughter's probability of non-farm participation by 200 percent. The effects are truly dramatic for skilled non-farm jobs; having a mother in skilled job raises daughter's probability by 1200 percent. Having a father in non-farm, on the other hand, does not have any significant effect on a son's probability of non-farm participation when the endogeneity of education and assets is corrected for by Two Stage Conditional Maximum Likelihood approach. However, a moderate positive intergenerational correlation between fathers and sons exists for skilled jobs