| While child labor has been recognized as having a detrimental effect on the welfare of children, there has been no quantitative cross-national analysis investigating the factors associated with child labor. This structural equation based analysis for 174 nations tests 5 different theories (economic modernization, female status, dependency, state strength and political modernization) proposed to explain variations in the rate of child labor. This analysis reveals that all theories have some level of explanatory power, particularly economic modernization and female status. |
