A Case Study of Pakistan Determinants of Female Labour Force in South Asia economic opportunities are constrained(for instance, lack of permission to work outside the home). Field et al.(2016) and Eric Field& Vyborny(2016) noted similar results for India and Pakistan, where in India, men boasted explicitly that they did not like their women to work for pay outside the house. Pakistan is no less different. A large proportion of the women responded that they were not allowed to work outside the house because they were not permitted to do so by their husbands or fathers as fulfilling domestic responsibilities was their primary responsibility. These patriarchal arrangements also determine which occupations are“acceptable” for the women to participate(if allowed) in Pakistan. Hence, the gender norms to date are strongly entrenched in South Asian countries(Pimkina& de La Flor, 2020, p. 27). 2.3. Legal Barriers In addition to the factors discussed before, legal barriers are also an essential determinant of FLFP in South Asia. There are laws restricting the number of hours women can work and in which industries they can participate(see Appendix-B). For instance, during the 1990s in India, when the economy was growing with increased trade, factory laws still put legal constraints on women’s working hours. Such laws are highly discriminatory against women and can affect the overall FLFP(Najeeb et al., 2020, p. 5). The World Bank’s Women, Business and Law project carries out extensive, rigorous research on the interplay between the legal gender discrimination faced by women and how it affects their labour market situation. The Women, Business and Law(WBL) index is calculated using multiple data points across 8 indicators, such as mobility, starting a job, getting paid, getting married, having children, running a business, managing assets and getting a pension (World Bank, n.d.). The index score(arranged in ascending order on a scale of 1-100) for South Asian countries, an average of each country’s score on the indicators mentioned in 2018(see Appendix-C). A higher score would represent more gender-equal laws and a greater possibility of women participating in the labour market. Out of all countries mentioned, India has the highest score of 74.4, which implies that the laws related to mobility, workplace, pay, marriage; parenthood have continued to be reformed for women’s favor. Despite such a higher score, low FLFP rate in India is a topic for further research. Pakistan and Bangladesh´s score is similar i-e close to 50, reflecting an average score in equal gender laws. However, if we explore how 5