on the one hand these trends are reflected in the potential demand that labour force participation can channel into economic growth on the other the conditions under which women enter and remain in the labour market will determine their supplyside ie costbased contribution to growth labour supply functions are calculated using the supply in terms of hours feminization rates and estimated wages in dynamic economic growth functions the results indicate that the feminization of the labour force bears a positive relationship with growth but that increases in the labour supply as measured in hours does not