Health occupation workforce and inclusive growth in sub–Saharan Africa: Does politically empowering women make or break this relationship?

Abstract

This paper explores the impacts of politically empowering women on the connection between health occupation workforce (HOW) and inclusive growth (IG) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) over the period 2000–2019. Results show that: (a) HOW, women's political empowerment (WPE) and their combined effect positively associate with a growth process that redistributes opportunities in both the short-and long-term; and (b) there is a partial mediation effect of WPE on the association between HOW and IG in SSA. Our findings support commitment towards stepping-up politically empowering women as a lever towards increasing the effect of HOW on IG.