Economic Policy & Gender: Trade and Competitiveness

The Impact of Trade Liberalization on Gender Equality PREM Note 86 (PDF 72KB)

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This PREM Note examines the issues and evidence related to the following questions on trade liberalization and gender: (1) Does trade create jobs for women in the manufacturing sector? (2) How does trade affect the gender wage gap in the modern wage sector? (3) Do gender inequalities in access to resources limit women's participation in export activities, particularly in agriculture?

Not all individuals benefit from trade liberalization equally. How much an individual benefits depends, among other things, on whether he or she works in an expanding sector or is able to switch to one, on his or her skills, and on whether there is discrimination in the labor market. Gender analysis is important to evaluate the potential effects of trade liberalization on the population because men and women commonly work in different sectors, have different skills and different access to economic resources. The papers and background materials on this site explore different gender dimensions of trade liberalization.

Analytical Work and Operational Experience

The Home as the Factory Floor: Employment and Remuneration of Home-based Workers,
Wendy Cunningham and Carlos Ramos Gomez

The Impact of Chilean Fruit Sector Development on Female Employment and Household Income ,
Lovell Jarvis and Esperanza Vera-Toscano

Who Benefits and How Much? How Gender Affects the Welfare Impacts of a Booming Textile Industry
Alessandro Nicita and Susan Razzaz

International Trade and Wage Discrimination: Evidence from East Asia,
Gunseli Berik, Yana van der Meulen Rodgers and Joseph E. Zviglich, Jr.

Globalization and the Gender Wage Gap
Remco Oostendorp

Product Market Integration and Household Labor Supply in a Poor Economy: Evidence from Viet Nam
Eric Edmonds and Nina Pavcnik

Household Composition and the Response of Child Labor Supply to Product Market Integration: Evidence from Viet Nam,
Eric Edmonds

The Gender Imbalances in the Export Oriented Garment Industry in Bangladesh (PDF 93 KB)
Pratima Paul-Majumder and Anwara Begum

Gender, Time Use, and Change: Impact of the Cut Flower Industry in Ecuador PDF 124 KB)
Constance Newman

Effects of Trade Liberalization on the Gender Wage Gap in Mexico (PDF 114 KB)
Raquel Artecona and Wendy Cunningham

Women and Labor Market Changes in the Global Economy: Growth Helps, Inequalities Hurt and Public Policy Matters (PDF 2 KB)
Zafiris Tzannatos