SESSION 4
GENDER ISSUES IN TRADE
SESSION GOALS
To Introduce Participants to:
• The relationship between trade and gender outcomes
• Methods to analyze gender impacts of trade
• Recent studies of the gender impacts of trade, including
GATE work
GENDER ISSUES IN TRADE
The Question: How to Reduce Gender Inequalities?
“A crucial question concerns the sharing of potential
gains from globalization between rich and poor
countries, and between different groups within a
country.” Amartya Sen
GENDER ISSUES IN TRADE
Trade and Poverty Alleviation
• Trade has the potential to reduce poverty but is
insufficient alone.
• As trade increases, growth rates rise. Increased
growth is associated with lower absolute poverty - but
not necessarily relative poverty.
• Sequencing and timing of trade liberalization is
important.
GENDER ISSUES IN TRADE
Trade Definitions
• Trade liberalization – the reduction of tariffs and
removal or relaxation of non-tariff barriers
• Trade integration – the broader economic process
of increasing exchanges with other countries,
expanding trade as well as flows of capital, labor,
technology, and communications
• Trade policy - the political process undertaken by
governments forming national commitments to legally
binding bilateral, regional, and multilateral
agreements
GENDER ISSUES IN TRADE
Trade Liberalization: Recent Trends
• Scope of agreements has widened
– Environment
– Labor conditions
• Bilateral and regional rather than multilateral
• Quality and source standards (e.g. EURGAP, SPS)
remain more important barriers than tariffs or quotas
for many products
GENDER ISSUES IN TRADE
Gender, Trade, and Gender Inequality
• Trade liberalization is not gender-neutral
• Export promotion is not gender-neutral
• Increasing regional trade is not gender-neutral
GENDER ISSUES IN TRADE
Why Address Gender Inequalities?
• Increases allocative efficiency of labor
• Improves a country’s growth and economic outcomes
• Increases intergenerational transmission of wealth
GENDER ISSUES IN TRADE
Gender Impacts of Trade
Men and women are differentially affected by changes
in trade due to:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Asymmetric rights and responsibilities
Differing reproductive roles
Gendered social norms
Labor market segmentation
Consumption patterns
Women’s time poverty
Class, age, ethnicity, religion and/or geography
GENDER ISSUES IN TRADE
Trade Impacts on Household Welfare
World Prices
and Quantities
Exchange Rate
Tariffs, QRs
Tariff
Revenue
Border Prices
Taxes
Endowments
Wholesale Price
Profits
Spending
Retail Price
Wages
Employment
Household Welfare
Prices, Wages
Men
Women
Endowments
Elderly
Profits, Other Incomes
Young
GENDER ISSUES IN TRADE
Gender Impact of Trade Liberalization
Price Transmission
– Changes in prices of liberalized goods
– Changes in relative prices of domestically produced and
internationally traded goods
– Prices affect households (men and women) differently
depending on whether they are net-consumers or netproducers
– Price declines benefit consumers over producers and viceversa
GENDER ISSUES IN TRADE
Gender Impact of Trade Liberalization (cont.)
Profits, employment, and wages
– If factors of production are fully employed, price changes will
be reflected in wages
– If large pool of unemployed, liberalization will change
employment
– Employment of poor and men/women depends on type of
employment changes
– Terms and conditions of employment may change
GENDER ISSUES IN TRADE
Gender Impact of Trade Liberalization (cont.)
Taxes and Spending
– Changes in government revenues affect social spending and
anti-poverty programs
GENDER ISSUES IN TRADE
Methodologies to Examine Gender Impacts of Trade
and Trade Agreements
• Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) Models
– Description of the Economy with simplifications
(assumptions)
– Gender analyses differentiate between male and female
workers and male and female consumers
• GATE South Africa and GATE Bangladesh studies
• Intra-household Models
– Can be used to model household decision-making
– Can be inserted into CGE or used independently
GENDER ISSUES IN TRADE
Methodologies to Examine Gender Impacts of Trade
and Trade Agreements (cont.)
• Empirical Studies
– Studies of specific sectors
• GATE Bangladesh Ready-made Garments
• GATE Bangladesh Shrimp Sector
• Legal and Regulatory Approaches
– Examines whether or not the commitment contains any overt
gender bias
– Examines whether or not the commitment conflicts with or
undermine the country’s other international commitments and
domestic laws relevant to women
• GATE Bangladesh Trade Impact Review
GENDER ISSUES IN TRADE
GATE Studies on Gender Impacts of Trade
Liberalization
South Africa
• “Gender Dimensions of the Incidence of Tariff Liberalization”
• “Has Trade Liberalization in South Africa Affected Men and
Women Differently?”
• “Trade Liberalization and Gender Impacts on Employment by
and Ownership of SMMEs” (unpublished)
Bangladesh
• “Gender and Trade in Bangladesh: The Case of Ready-Made
Garments”
• “Trade Impact Review for Agriculture and Manufacturing”
GENDER ISSUES IN TRADE
GATE/South Africa Study – “Gender Dimensions of
the Incidence of Tariff Liberalization”
• Explores the differential impact of tariff revision on
male- and female-headed households in South
Africa
• Asks how have tariffs changes, who bears the costs
of tariffs, and how does this potentially affect their
welfare?
GENDER ISSUES IN TRADE
GATE/South Africa Study - “Gender Dimensions of the
Incidence of Tariff Liberalization” - Percent of Category by
Expenditure Decile, 2000
Consumption Schedule: 2000 Supply & Use Commodity Expenditures
100%
Household Services
90%
80%
Household Goods
70%
Personal Goods
Percent
60%
Tradable Vehicle Parts
50%
Housing (Not Ow ned)
40%
Clothing & Textiles
30%
20%
Alcohol & Tobacco
10%
Food & Non-alcoholic Beverages
0%
1
2
3
4
5
6
Expenditure Deciles
7
8
9
10
GENDER ISSUES IN TRADE
GATE/South Africa Study – “Gender Dimensions of the
Incidence of Tariff Liberalization”
Differences in mean percent consumption expenditure by decile and sex of
household head
Decile
Food &
Bevs.
Alcohol
& Tob.
Cloth &
Textile
Accommodation
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
-2.62*
-2.69*
-3.54*
-4.79*
-4.29*
-4.52*
-3.24*
-1.25
0.32
-0.97
4.79*
4.22*
3.21*
3.65*
2.74*
3.34*
3.05*
1.61*
1.00*
0.08
-1.31*
-0.49
-0.49
0.22
0.98*
0.88*
0.25
-0.69
-0.74*
-0.46
-0.32
0.70
1.41
2.07*
1.18*
0.77*
0.00
0.06
-1.85*
-2.31*
Traded
Vehicle
Parts
0.01
0.03
0.05*
0.08*
0.08*
0.43*
0.18
0.52*
0.76
0.99
Personal
Goods
HH
Goods
HH
Service
-0.91*
-0.98*
-0.91*
-0.99*
-1.14*
-0.93*
-0.69*
-0.50*
-0.63*
-0.25
0.21
-0.08
0.36
-0.37
0.30
0.94*
1.23*
1.71*
1.95*
0.14
0.15
-0.70
-0.09
0.13
0.16
-0.92
-0.79
-1.45
-0.82
2.79*
A negative figure implies that male-headed households spend less on a
particular group of products, while a positive figure implies that male-headed
households spend more than females.
GENDER ISSUES IN TRADE
GATE/South Africa Study – “Gender Dimensions of
the Incidence of Tariff Liberalization”
• South Africa joined the WTO in January 1995. Between 1995
and 2004 total tariff revenue declined from approximately 35
billion to 20 billion Rand.
• The poorest households saw average declines in their payment
of tariff revenues as a percent of their total consumption from
between 15 and 16 percent to approximately 9 percent of total
expenditure.
• The wealthiest households experienced declines in the
estimated tariff incidence from approximately 11 percent to a
little over 5 percent.
GENDER ISSUES IN TRADE
GATE/South Africa Study – “Gender Dimensions of
the Incidence of Tariff Liberalization”
Results of Study :
 Understand consumption and production by the poor and
men/women
 Reducing tariffs has the potential to improve welfare of the poor
if these reductions are passed on to consumers
 Consider sex of household hold in transfers and programs to
minimize the effect of changes in trade regimes
GENDER ISSUES IN TRADE
GATE/South Africa Study – “Gender Dimensions of
the Incidence of Tariff Liberalization”
“The sex of the household head matters, and must be
considered independently from anything else when
considering the full scope of tariff liberalization.”
GENDER ISSUES IN TRADE
GATE/Bangladesh Study – “Trade Impact Review for
Agriculture and Manufacturing”
• Synthesis of significant gender impacts of trade and
trade agreements focusing on employment both
economy-wide and in specific sectors (i.e., readymade garments, shrimp)
• Three approaches: CGE Model, empirical studies,
and legal and regulatory approach
GENDER ISSUES IN TRADE
GATE/Bangladesh Study – “Trade Impact Review for
Agriculture and Manufacturing”
• Trade liberalization during 1990s significantly increased
employment in export sectors (textiles) up to 80% of employees
are women
• Impact of changes in Trade agreement (end of Multi-Fiber
Agreement):
– Surprisingly change did not result in significant increases in
unemployment
– Textile industry adjusted increasing volume with pressure on wages
and employment conditions
– Shift from Ready-made garments to knit garments implies shift from
female-intensive to male-intensive labor
GENDER ISSUES IN TRADE
GATE/Bangladesh Study – “Trade Impact Review for
Agriculture and Manufacturing”
Impact on women:
• Movement to less secure employment contracts
• Downward pressure on wages
• More vulnerable to unemployment (especially at
higher education levels with fewer options)
GENDER ISSUES IN TRADE
Gender Impacts of Trade: AGOA
• Few gender-related empirical studies or case studies
• 2005 study on East Africa concludes AGOA created
employment for women particularly in textiles and
apparel and horticulture (e.g. Madagascar export
processing zone, Kenya EPZs).
• Few women businesses – generally in handicrafts
and gift articles
• Barriers to women in business remain
GENDER ISSUES IN TRADE
Gender Impacts of Trade: AGOA
Employment
Employment in Kenya Export Processing
Zones
30000
25000
20000
15000
10000
5000
0
Men
Women
2000
2001
2002
Years
2003
2004
GENDER ISSUES IN TRADE
Wage Increases in Madagascar’s Textile and
Apparel Industry, 1997-99
Type of Employee
Share of Labor
Force
Wage Increase
Skilled Males
18
34
Skilled Females
37
23
Unskilled Males
7
11
Unskilled Females
38
0
GENDER ISSUES IN TRADE
Gender Impacts of Trade: AGOA
Constraints/Challenges
–
–
–
–
–
–
Limited collateral or access/control over productive assets
Poor working conditions
Limited job security
Lack of business and managerial skills
Concentration in informal sector
Lack of ICT infrastructure, literacy, etc.
GENDER ISSUES IN TRADE
Gender Impacts of Trade: AGOA
• Change should focus on:
– Closing wage gaps and differences in contracts between
men and women in export processing industries
– Increasing women’s capacity to start, upgrade, and expand
export businesses
• Actions include:
– building capacity
– strengthening women business associations
– increasing access to productive assets
GENDER ISSUES IN TRADE
Gender Impacts of Trade: Overall Trends and
Evidence from GATE Studies
• High labor segmentation in export industries
• Female employment increases and contracts with expansion
and contraction of specific industries
• Women have high employment ratio in Free Trade Zones
(FTZs)/ Export Processing Zones (EPZs)
• Women in insecure employment categories with fewer benefits
• Women rarely represented in owner/manager positions in export
industries
• Wages both within and across employment categories for many
export industries show large gender gap
GENDER ISSUES IN TRADE
East Africa Gender and Trade
• East Africa’s economies must grow 7-8 % annually to
reduce poverty (CAADP 6% goal)
• Current Growth Rates: Kenya 7%; Rwanda 5.5%;
Tanzania 5%; Uganda 5%
• Poverty has been reduced, but income inequality
between urban and rural areas has risen
• 80 % of poor in rural areas dependent on agriculture
or agriculture-related activities
• Significant growth can come through trade – regional
and international
GENDER ISSUES IN TRADE
East Africa Trade Areas
Actions
COMESA and ECA – Common
External Tariff agreements
• Analysis of gender impacts
• Increase participation of women’s
groups in trade negotiations
Export promotion
• Upgrade value-chains
Increased Regional Trade
• One-Stop Border Posts
• Facilitation for small-volume
trading
Non-tariff barriers – EURGAP,
SPS
• Trade capacity building for womenowned businesses
EPZs and FTZs
• Improve work conditions
• Improve upward job mobility for
women
GENDER ISSUES IN TRADE
Recommendations to Improve Gender Equity
through Trade and Export Promotion Programs
• Conduct appropriate analyses
– Identify gender labor market segmentation
– Identify consumption patterns by income and gender
• Reduce barriers to equalize gender access to trade
benefits
• Identify specific areas that benefit gender equality
(e.g. commodities, sectors)
GENDER ISSUES IN TRADE
Recommendations to Improve Gender Equity
through Trade and Export Promotion Programs
• Upgrade versus squeezing wages in competitive
industries
• Focus efforts on diversifying exports and increase
forward and backward linkages
• Ensure legal and regulatory environment reflect
interests and concern of poor and women