Labor market matching has significant economic and social impacts since a low matching efficiency/quality reduces aggregated gains in productivity and wages and may lead to unemployment and job vacancy. IT has played a crucial role in influencing labor markets matching by reducing search costs, lowering enter barriers, and promoting flexibility. In this dissertation, I explore one antecedent (i.e., digital labor markets) and two consequences of labor market matching (i.e., local employment and wage). The first essay examines the role of project descriptions (i.e., codifiability, flexibility, outcome standards) in influencing the matching efficiency in the digital labor markets. The results find that an appropriate project description could improve the matching efficiency by 15% between employers and service providers. The second essay studies the impact of an extension in the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program (STEM OPT), an immigration policy that matches local demand with global supply, on local labor markets. I found that the STEM OPT extension boosts employment for domestic IT professionals by promoting innovative and entrepreneurial activities. The third essay studies the impact of an emerging gig platform (i.e., TaskRabbit), a new matching mechanism, on the employment of workers in the housekeeping industry. The results suggest that the platform mostly impacted middle-level management (e.g., first-line supervisors), while the manual workers, such as cleaners and janitors, were not as affected. The contributions and implications of each essay are discussed. / Business Administration/Management Information Systems

Ubiquitous access to the Internet and supporting technologies gave birth to online labor markets (Malone and Laubacher 1998). Online labor markets enable employers (employers) to contract with professionals (service providers) from anywhere in the world. Firms now are able to greatly expand their workforce and bring a large arsenal of labor to bear on IT jobs, such as software or web development using Internet-enabled procurement platforms such as Freelancer. These markets serve as intermediaries for IT services (outsourcers post Call for Bids (CFBs) for services and providers offer bids for IT services) that help match employers with service providers across the globe. In my dissertation, I try to comprehensively study this Internet-enabled phenomenon from the perspectives of these three entities on global online markets with three separate yet related essays. The first essay focuses on the "global" nature of the market, and assess the effect of global frictions and global labor arbitrage on both provider bidding and employer selection. The second essay focuses on the effect of auction mechanism - sealed versus open bid auction - on providers' bidding dynamics, and the market performance. The third essay focuses on estimating true consumer (employer) surplus of online labor markets with a quality-adjusted measure. I also test its robustness by comparing its effects on consumers' subsequent transactions. I also find that market immaturity, consumers' lack of experience in the market, and consumers' lack of familiarity with IT service providers lead to the difference between the traditional measure and the quality-adjusted consumer surplus. / Business Administration/Management Information Systems

Die vorliegende Dissertation umfasst vier Essays, in denen die Rolle von technologischem Fortschritt für die Beschäftigungs- und Lohnentwicklung in Deutschland in den vergangenen 30 Jahren untersucht wird. Die empirische Analyse nutzt die räumliche Variation in der Verteilung der Beschäftigungsanteile von Routinetätigkeiten, die durch Informationstechnologien substituierbar sind. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Arbeitsmärkte, die besonders durch Automatisierung betroffen sind, eine stärkere Polarisierung der Berufsstruktur zwischen 1979 und 2006 erfahren haben, d.h. eine Verschiebung der Beschäftigung von Routineberufen (Büro- und Produktionsberufe) hin zu kognitiven und manuellen Nicht-Routineberufen (Fach- und Führungskräfte bzw. Dienstleistungsberufe). Aufbauend auf diesen Ergebnissen zeigt der zweite Aufsatz, dass technologischer Fortschritt positiv zu intra- und interregionaler Lohnungleichheit beiträgt. Der dritte Aufsatz untersucht die Wechselwirkung zwischen dem durch technologischen Wandel getriebenen Beschäftigungsanstieg am unteren Ende der Lohnverteilung und Beschäftigungschancen von Arbeitnehmern mit Migrationshintergrund. Die Ergebnisse stehen im Einklang mit der Hypothese, dass der technologisch bedingte Rückgang in der Nachfrage nach Routinetätigkeiten und die damit verbundene Reallokation in Berufe mit geringem Qualifikationslevel zu einem Anstieg des Wettbewerbsdrucks im Niedriglohnsektor führt, in dem ausländische Arbeitnehmer oftmals Beschäftigung finden. Der vierte Aufsatz beschäftigt sich mit der langfristigen Entwicklung der Zeitarbeit in den regionalen Arbeitsmärkten in Deutschland in den vergangenen 30 Jahren und zeigt, dass die anfängliche Verteilung der Beschäftigungsanteile für manuelle Nicht-Routinetätigkeiten und insbesondere für Routinetätigkeiten eine starke Vorhersagekraft für das regionale Beschäftigungswachstum von Zeitarbeit in Deutschland besitzt. / This thesis studies the role of technological change as a determinant of employment and wage trends in Germany over the past 30 years. The econometric analysis exploits spatial variation in the exposure to technological progress which arises due to initial regional specialization in routine task-intensive activities. The empirical evidence suggests that the occupational structure of labor markets that were particularly susceptible to technological change has polarized, as employment shifted from middle-skilled routine clerical and production occupations not only to high-paying professional occupations but also to low-paying service and construction occupations. Building on these results, the second essay explores whether and to what extent increasing labor market inequality within and across regions is driven by technological change and establishes a positive link between intra-regional wage inequality and computerization. Because of substantial variation in the degree of technology exposure across German regions, technological change can also in part explain rising inter-regional wage inequality. The third essay investigates the interaction between polarization in the native labor market and employment opportunities of immigrant workers in Germany. The findings are consistent with a technology induced reallocation of labor from middle-paying routine tasks towards lower-paying non-routine manual tasks inducing additional competitive pressure in this labor market segment in which immigrant workers are typically employed. Finally, the fourth essay provides an empirical analysis of the diverging patterns of employment in temporary help services across labor markets in Germany over the last 30 years. The differential growth pattern both at the level of occupations and across regional labor markets are found to be related to the initial intensity of routine and non-routine manual tasks.

This thesis is composed of four self-contained papers and focuses on discrimination in themarket place. Essay 1: “Disability Discrimination in the Rental Housing Market – A Field Experiment onBlind Tenants.” Although discrimination against disabled people has been investigated inthe labor market, the housing market has received less attention in this regard. This paperfocuses on the latter market and investigates whether blind tenants assisted by guide dogsare discriminated against in the rental housing market. The data are collected through afield experiment in which written applications were sent in response to onlineadvertisements posted by different types of advertisers. I find statistically significantevidence that one type of online advertiser, that is, the apartment owner (i.e., a person whoadvertises and rents out his/her own apartment(s) on his/her own), discriminates againstblind tenants, because of the presence of the guide dog, not because of the disability.According to the legislation, this behavior qualifies as illegal discrimination. Essay 2: “Does the design of correspondence studies influence the measurement of discrimination?”(co-authored with Carlsson and Rooth). Correspondence studies can identify the extent ofdiscrimination in hiring as typically defined by the law, which includes discriminationagainst ethnic minorities and females. However, as Heckman and Siegelman (1993) show,if employers act upon a group difference in the variance of unobserved variables, thismeasure of discrimination may not be very informative. This issue has essentially beenignored in the empirical literature until the recent methodological development byNeumark (2012). We apply Neumark’s method to a number of already publishedcorrespondence studies. We find the Heckman and Siegelman critique relevant forempirical work and give suggestions on how future correspondence studies may address thiscritique. Essay 3: “Does Labor Market Tightness Affect Ethnic Discrimination in Hiring?” (co-authoredwith Carlsson and Rooth). In this study, we investigate whether ethnic discriminationdepends on labor market tightness. While ranking models predict a negative relationship,the prediction of screening models is ambiguous about the direction of the relationship.Thus, the direction of the relationship is purely an empirical issue. We utilize three (butcombine into two) correspondence studies of the Swedish labor market and two distinctlydifferent measures of labor market tightness. These different measures produce very similarresults, showing that a one percent increase in labor market tightness increases ethnicdiscrimination in hiring by 0.5-0.7 percent, which is consistent with a screening model.This result stands in sharp contrast to the only previous study on this matter, Baert et al.(forthcoming), which finds evidence that supports a ranking model. Essay 4: “Relative Age Effect on Labor Market Outcomes for High Skilled Workers – Evidencefrom Soccer.” In sports and education contexts, children are divided into age groups that arearbitrary constructions based on admission dates. This age-group system is thought todetermine differences in maturity between pupils within the same group, that is, relative904627 Luca Furmaco_inl.indd 5 2015-02-24 16:58age (RA). In turn, these within-age-group maturity differences produce performance gaps,that is, relative age effects (RAEs), which might persist and affect labor market outcomes. Ianalyze the RAE on labor market outcomes using a unique dataset of a particular group ofhigh-skilled workers: soccer players in the Italian major soccer league. In line with previousstudies, evidence on the existence of an RAE in terms of representativeness is found,meaning that players born relatively early in an age group are over-represented, whileplayers born relatively late are under-represented, even accounting for specific populationtrends. Moreover, players born relatively late in an age group receive lower gross wages thanplayers born relatively early. This wage gap seems to increase with age and in the quantileof the wage distribution.

In global corporations, work is increasingly organized around projects and individuals are constantly working with new constellations of partners across locational and temporal boundaries. In order to be successful in such settings, individuals have to form and maintain relationships with those they need to learn from and coordinate with. Recent studies suggest that these social ties provide resources and support as well as create normative pressures that strengthen the attachment of employees with the firm and lead them to stay with the firm. In contrast, the strength of an individual’s attachment with the organization given the departure of connected colleagues remains largely under theorized, and consequently, its implications have not been adequately studied. We address these gaps by examining whether ties to colleagues who leave the firm activate different mechanisms which can weaken their binds with the organization. This study assume significance in the context of contemporary free-agent labor markets where career trajectories are proposed to unfold in a series of short stints at multiple firms as opposed to life-long career in a single firm. We develop theoretical arguments predicting the effect of workplace relationships on career mobility decisions by building on prior research into distributed work, changing nature of careers, social comparison, homophily, and structural equivalence. The main contention of this study is that the departure of one or more coworkers serves as powerful signals that unsettle the feeling of belongingness the focal employee enjoys with other teammates who choose to stay with the firm. Further, we propose that the influence of those departed employees will be higher when they are collocated and occupied similar professional roles as the focal employee. To test the arguments, we analyze entire project co-assignment data across five years that linked 728 geographically distributed employees who were engaged in software development and delivery activities at a multi-national high technology firm. Our findings suggest that instead of seeking belonging and viability with coworkers, employees are actively seeking cues from their network of colleagues and continuously making subjective assessments of career success. In distributed work settings, such cues circulate more among physically proximate than distant employees and formal roles of coworkers serve as referent points for those signals. These mechanisms collectively influence voluntary turnover decisions. Using a classification model, we further demonstrate how insights from this study can be used by human resource management practitioners to assess and contain the flight risk of their valuable talent.

Este estudo tem como objetivo geral analisar a relação entre mobilidade ocupacional e qualificação dos trabalhadores, atentando para a implicação da mobilidade para a valorização ou para a desvalorização da qualificação. A mobilidade foi tratada como exercício de diferentes ocupações. A qualificação foi definida como articulação entre os saberes e a classificação social atribuída às ocupações, aos saberes e aos trabalhadores. Compreende-se que a mobilidade, ao traduzir alterações nos saberes e na classificação social conferidos às ocupações desempenhadas, elementos que também compõem a qualificação do trabalhador, pode representar valorização ou desvalorização da sua qualificação. O estudo contou com informações de 28.033 trabalhadores cadastrados, em 2009, no Sistema de Gestão das Ações de Emprego. Trata-se de trabalhadores com 30 ou mais anos de idade, residentes na Região Metropolitana de Porto Alegre e com registro de experiência de trabalho. Além disso, entrevistou-se 14 destes trabalhadores, aprofundando as informações sobre mobilidade e qualificação. Articulando a abordagem da qualificação como construção social àquela da análise ocupacional, a mobilidade e a qualificação dos trabalhadores foram identificadas e analisadas. Evidenciamos o predomínio da baixa mobilidade ocupacional entre os trabalhadores considerados neste estudo. A mobilidade ocupacional, para esses trabalhadores, concentrou-se principalmente em ocupações com menores exigências de escolaridade, de formação técnica e de experiência na atividade laboral e com baixas remunerações. Nesse sentido, ela não implicou ganhos em termos de valorização da qualificação dos trabalhadores. Além disso, a maior parte dos trabalhadores exerceu ocupações próximas. Entre os entrevistados verificamos que a proximidade das ocupações permitiu o aproveitamento dos saberes e a permanência no mercado de trabalho, porém, não implicou uma maior valorização da sua qualificação. A distância das ocupações foi associada por eles à hierarquização e à desvalorização de algumas ocupações frente a outras. Para os entrevistados com exercício de ocupações que se distanciam, verificamos o exercício de ocupações de maior valorização, entretanto, foi uma valorização momentânea. A mobilidade foi associada pelos entrevistados à aprendizagem e à não-especialização e apontou a busca por posições superiores nos processos e no mercado de trabalho e na sociedade. / This study has as overall objective to analyse the relation between occupational mobility and skills of workers, giving special attention to mobility implication to valorisation or devalorisation of the skills. The mobility was treated as the exercise of different occupations. Qualification was defined as articulation between knowledgment and the social classification given to ocuppation, knowledgments and workers. It is understood that mobility, when it means the changes in knowledgments and in the social classification to the work done, elements which also are part the workers, can represent the valorisation or devalorisation of his/her skills. The study used information from 28.033 filed workers in 2009 in the System Management Actions Employment. It was workers from 30 years old, who were living in Porto Alegre Metropolitan Area and had a registered work experience. In addition, 14 from that total amount of workers were respondents, making the information on mobility and skills even further. By articulating the approach of skills as a social construction to that occupational analyses, workers’ both mobility and skills were identified and analysed. Evidenced the predominance of a low occupational mobility among the workers considered in this study. The occupational mobility to those workers were concrentated mainly in the occupations with lower educational requirements, with technical training, and with labor activity experience and low remuneration. In this sense, it did not imply in gains when comes to valorisation of workers’ skills. Besides, most workers exerted near occupations. Among the respondents, it was verified that the proximity of the occupations permitted the use of knowledge and stay on the labor market, however, did not imply in a greater valorisation of their skills. The distancies of the occupations was associated by them to hierarchy and the devaluation of some occupations compared to other. To the respondents whose occupations were drifted apart, it was verified the exert of higher valorisation occupation, nevertheless, it was a momentaneous valorisation. The mobility was associated by the respondents to learning and non-specialized, and pointed to the search for top positions in the processes, in labor Market and in the society.

Este estudo tem como objetivo geral analisar a relação entre mobilidade ocupacional e qualificação dos trabalhadores, atentando para a implicação da mobilidade para a valorização ou para a desvalorização da qualificação. A mobilidade foi tratada como exercício de diferentes ocupações. A qualificação foi definida como articulação entre os saberes e a classificação social atribuída às ocupações, aos saberes e aos trabalhadores. Compreende-se que a mobilidade, ao traduzir alterações nos saberes e na classificação social conferidos às ocupações desempenhadas, elementos que também compõem a qualificação do trabalhador, pode representar valorização ou desvalorização da sua qualificação. O estudo contou com informações de 28.033 trabalhadores cadastrados, em 2009, no Sistema de Gestão das Ações de Emprego. Trata-se de trabalhadores com 30 ou mais anos de idade, residentes na Região Metropolitana de Porto Alegre e com registro de experiência de trabalho. Além disso, entrevistou-se 14 destes trabalhadores, aprofundando as informações sobre mobilidade e qualificação. Articulando a abordagem da qualificação como construção social àquela da análise ocupacional, a mobilidade e a qualificação dos trabalhadores foram identificadas e analisadas. Evidenciamos o predomínio da baixa mobilidade ocupacional entre os trabalhadores considerados neste estudo. A mobilidade ocupacional, para esses trabalhadores, concentrou-se principalmente em ocupações com menores exigências de escolaridade, de formação técnica e de experiência na atividade laboral e com baixas remunerações. Nesse sentido, ela não implicou ganhos em termos de valorização da qualificação dos trabalhadores. Além disso, a maior parte dos trabalhadores exerceu ocupações próximas. Entre os entrevistados verificamos que a proximidade das ocupações permitiu o aproveitamento dos saberes e a permanência no mercado de trabalho, porém, não implicou uma maior valorização da sua qualificação. A distância das ocupações foi associada por eles à hierarquização e à desvalorização de algumas ocupações frente a outras. Para os entrevistados com exercício de ocupações que se distanciam, verificamos o exercício de ocupações de maior valorização, entretanto, foi uma valorização momentânea. A mobilidade foi associada pelos entrevistados à aprendizagem e à não-especialização e apontou a busca por posições superiores nos processos e no mercado de trabalho e na sociedade. / This study has as overall objective to analyse the relation between occupational mobility and skills of workers, giving special attention to mobility implication to valorisation or devalorisation of the skills. The mobility was treated as the exercise of different occupations. Qualification was defined as articulation between knowledgment and the social classification given to ocuppation, knowledgments and workers. It is understood that mobility, when it means the changes in knowledgments and in the social classification to the work done, elements which also are part the workers, can represent the valorisation or devalorisation of his/her skills. The study used information from 28.033 filed workers in 2009 in the System Management Actions Employment. It was workers from 30 years old, who were living in Porto Alegre Metropolitan Area and had a registered work experience. In addition, 14 from that total amount of workers were respondents, making the information on mobility and skills even further. By articulating the approach of skills as a social construction to that occupational analyses, workers’ both mobility and skills were identified and analysed. Evidenced the predominance of a low occupational mobility among the workers considered in this study. The occupational mobility to those workers were concrentated mainly in the occupations with lower educational requirements, with technical training, and with labor activity experience and low remuneration. In this sense, it did not imply in gains when comes to valorisation of workers’ skills. Besides, most workers exerted near occupations. Among the respondents, it was verified that the proximity of the occupations permitted the use of knowledge and stay on the labor market, however, did not imply in a greater valorisation of their skills. The distancies of the occupations was associated by them to hierarchy and the devaluation of some occupations compared to other. To the respondents whose occupations were drifted apart, it was verified the exert of higher valorisation occupation, nevertheless, it was a momentaneous valorisation. The mobility was associated by the respondents to learning and non-specialized, and pointed to the search for top positions in the processes, in labor Market and in the society.

Este estudo tem como objetivo geral analisar a relação entre mobilidade ocupacional e qualificação dos trabalhadores, atentando para a implicação da mobilidade para a valorização ou para a desvalorização da qualificação. A mobilidade foi tratada como exercício de diferentes ocupações. A qualificação foi definida como articulação entre os saberes e a classificação social atribuída às ocupações, aos saberes e aos trabalhadores. Compreende-se que a mobilidade, ao traduzir alterações nos saberes e na classificação social conferidos às ocupações desempenhadas, elementos que também compõem a qualificação do trabalhador, pode representar valorização ou desvalorização da sua qualificação. O estudo contou com informações de 28.033 trabalhadores cadastrados, em 2009, no Sistema de Gestão das Ações de Emprego. Trata-se de trabalhadores com 30 ou mais anos de idade, residentes na Região Metropolitana de Porto Alegre e com registro de experiência de trabalho. Além disso, entrevistou-se 14 destes trabalhadores, aprofundando as informações sobre mobilidade e qualificação. Articulando a abordagem da qualificação como construção social àquela da análise ocupacional, a mobilidade e a qualificação dos trabalhadores foram identificadas e analisadas. Evidenciamos o predomínio da baixa mobilidade ocupacional entre os trabalhadores considerados neste estudo. A mobilidade ocupacional, para esses trabalhadores, concentrou-se principalmente em ocupações com menores exigências de escolaridade, de formação técnica e de experiência na atividade laboral e com baixas remunerações. Nesse sentido, ela não implicou ganhos em termos de valorização da qualificação dos trabalhadores. Além disso, a maior parte dos trabalhadores exerceu ocupações próximas. Entre os entrevistados verificamos que a proximidade das ocupações permitiu o aproveitamento dos saberes e a permanência no mercado de trabalho, porém, não implicou uma maior valorização da sua qualificação. A distância das ocupações foi associada por eles à hierarquização e à desvalorização de algumas ocupações frente a outras. Para os entrevistados com exercício de ocupações que se distanciam, verificamos o exercício de ocupações de maior valorização, entretanto, foi uma valorização momentânea. A mobilidade foi associada pelos entrevistados à aprendizagem e à não-especialização e apontou a busca por posições superiores nos processos e no mercado de trabalho e na sociedade. / This study has as overall objective to analyse the relation between occupational mobility and skills of workers, giving special attention to mobility implication to valorisation or devalorisation of the skills. The mobility was treated as the exercise of different occupations. Qualification was defined as articulation between knowledgment and the social classification given to ocuppation, knowledgments and workers. It is understood that mobility, when it means the changes in knowledgments and in the social classification to the work done, elements which also are part the workers, can represent the valorisation or devalorisation of his/her skills. The study used information from 28.033 filed workers in 2009 in the System Management Actions Employment. It was workers from 30 years old, who were living in Porto Alegre Metropolitan Area and had a registered work experience. In addition, 14 from that total amount of workers were respondents, making the information on mobility and skills even further. By articulating the approach of skills as a social construction to that occupational analyses, workers’ both mobility and skills were identified and analysed. Evidenced the predominance of a low occupational mobility among the workers considered in this study. The occupational mobility to those workers were concrentated mainly in the occupations with lower educational requirements, with technical training, and with labor activity experience and low remuneration. In this sense, it did not imply in gains when comes to valorisation of workers’ skills. Besides, most workers exerted near occupations. Among the respondents, it was verified that the proximity of the occupations permitted the use of knowledge and stay on the labor market, however, did not imply in a greater valorisation of their skills. The distancies of the occupations was associated by them to hierarchy and the devaluation of some occupations compared to other. To the respondents whose occupations were drifted apart, it was verified the exert of higher valorisation occupation, nevertheless, it was a momentaneous valorisation. The mobility was associated by the respondents to learning and non-specialized, and pointed to the search for top positions in the processes, in labor Market and in the society.

La thèse présentée ici propose la figure de l’individu servile pour analyser l’expérience migratoire qui est faite au Liban par des migrants non arabes sri lankais et philippins, dont 95% sont des femmes. L’idéal-type de cet individu servile est la femme domestiquée, occupation très largement majoritaire parmi ces migrants dans le cadre d’une délégation du travail reproductif, dont la gradation concerne aussi les hommes. Après une première partie, qui consiste en la présentation de la problématique et des hypothèses de recherche (entre sociologie des migrations internationales, sociologie économique et sociologie de l’individu) et du dispositif méthodologique (successivement s’institutionalisant et se désinstitutionalisant), une seconde partie consiste à mettre en évidence le statut migratoire du Liban, ainsi que le dispositif transnational de production de l’individu servile, en référence à ces nouvelles migrations non arabes dans l’espace migratoire moyen-oriental – et les normes socio-économiques (la kafala et sa pratique au Liban) qui organisent les filières migratoires, distribuent l’occupation et induisent un contrôle par le travail dont le résultat est une négativité généralisée des rapports sociaux ; nous montrons le mécanisme de la fausse reconnaissance sur le site stratégique de la globalisation qu’est le ménage employeur. Enfin, dans une troisième partie, on s’intéresse à la gradation de la délégation du travail reproductif dans la société urbaine libanaise, ainsi qu’aux aspects communautaires de la segmentation des groupes migrants ; et nous proposons une lecture des ruptures biographiques et des recompositions identitaires auxquelles donnent lieu les carrières de migrants, entre les formes de la linéarité, de la discontinuité et de l’errance. / This work tries to set the figure of the individu servile to analyze the migration in Lebanon of non-Arab workers, Sri Lankan and Filipinos; 95% of these workers are women; the very figure of this individu servile is the female live-in domestic worker which is the major occupation in the context of a delegation of reproductive labor that includes also male workers. The first part is to clarify the theoretical framework and the hypothesis that structure this research (between the goals of a sociology of international migrations and those of a sociology of labor markets), and its methodological framework. In a second part, we set the migratory status of Lebanon and the transnational context of the fabrication of the individu servile, with reference to the new migrations in the Middle-East region. The social and economical rules - the kafala system at first - that organize the migration flux, the occupation of workers and their control through the labor process, result in a so-called nŽgativitŽ des rapports sociaux, which lies in an ideological or false process of recognition. In a third part, we show the gradual delegation of reproductive labor in urban Lebanese society, and the aspects of communities social segmentation; and we propose a vision of biographical splitting and subjective or self reconstruction in the process of careers to be distinguished between linearity, discontinuity and errance.

The role that women play in the economy of any society is a desirable goal for equity and efficiency considerations. Just as with the rest of the world, the South African women lagged behind their male counterparts within the economic empowerment space and in the formal labour force. However, the role of women has undergone some transformations with issues relating to employment opportunities, such that their labour force participation has risen considerably since 1994. The female labour force participation rate is still seen to be persistently lower compared to the male participation rate even in the second decade of democracy. The rate of women labour force participation is even lower than the average. On the other hand, the increases have also been coupled with the rising rate of unemployment among women. The objective of this study was to investigate the determinants of female labour force participation in the South African labour market. The study uses a regression analysis on a cross sectional panel data covering a period of 1995 to 2010. Unlike most popular beliefs, the findings of this study reveal that fertility though not statistically significant, positively influences labour force participation of women. Other variables that are statistically significant in explaining female labour force are HIV/AIDS, marital status, age, household income and education. Race was found to be insignificant in explaining female labour force participation in the South African labour force.