Extractive industries, government revenue and female economic participation: evidence from the Democratic Republic of Congo

Purpose The study aims to assess how government revenue can moderate the negative effect of extractive industries on female economic participation. Design/methodology/approach The focus is on the Democratic Republic of Congo using data for the period 1991–2022. The empirical evidence is based on the autoregressive distributed lag estimation approach. Findings It is established from the findings that extractive industries have a negative unconditional effect on female economic participation, while government revenue dampens the negative effect of extractive industries on female economic participation. Furthermore, there are critical levels of government revenue that should be reached in order for extractive industries to no longer have a negative effect on female economic participation. The corresponding government revenue thresholds are 8.9032 (% of gross domestic product (GDP)) in the short run and 14.3529 (% of GDP) in the long run. Above these thresholds, the interaction between extractive industries and government revenue yields positive outcomes on female economic participation. Policy implications are discussed. Originality/value The present study contributes to the extant literature by assessing how government income can moderate the negative effect of extractive industries on female economic participation.