IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/wdevel/v37y2009i6p1027-1038.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Effect of Trade Openness on Women's Welfare and Work Life

Author

Listed:
  • Bussmann, Margit

Abstract

Summary This study of 134 countries analyzes whether women are generally the losers or winners of globalization. The results show that economic integration does not directly improve women's life expectancies. Women's access to primary and secondary education may improve slightly, although women's welfare does not seem to improve more than that of men. On the other hand, economic integration does influence women's professional lives. In developing countries, trade openness increases female labor force participation; in industrialized states, it decreases the share of working women. Trade openness in developed countries increases the number of women employed in the service sector, while in developing states it increases the number of women working in industrial jobs and in agriculture.

Suggested Citation

  • Bussmann, Margit, 2009. "The Effect of Trade Openness on Women's Welfare and Work Life," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(6), pages 1027-1038, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:37:y:2009:i:6:p:1027-1038
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305-750X(08)00295-7
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sandra E. Black & Elizabeth Brainerd, 2004. "Importing Equality? The Impact of Globalization on Gender Discrimination," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 57(4), pages 540-559, July.
    2. Dollar, David & Kraay, Aart, 2002. "Growth Is Good for the Poor," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 7(3), pages 195-225, September.
    3. repec:bla:ecopol:v:17:y:2005:i::p:129-150 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Neumayer, Eric & de Soysa, Indra, 2005. "Trade Openness, Foreign Direct Investment and Child Labor," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 43-63, January.
    5. Yanikkaya, Halit, 2003. "Trade openness and economic growth: a cross-country empirical investigation," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(1), pages 57-89, October.
    6. Tzannatos, Zafiris, 1999. "Women and Labor Market Changes in the Global Economy: Growth Helps, Inequalities Hurt and Public Policy Matters," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 551-569, March.
    7. Fontana, Marzia & Wood, Adrian, 2000. "Modeling the Effects of Trade on Women, at Work and at Home," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 28(7), pages 1173-1190, July.
    8. Steven Pressman, 2003. "Feminist Explanations for the Feminization of Poverty," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(2), pages 353-361, June.
    9. Kucera, David & Milberg, William, 2000. "Gender Segregation and Gender Bias in Manufacturing Trade Expansion: Revisiting the "Wood Asymmetry"," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 28(7), pages 1191-1210, July.
    10. Standing, Guy, 1989. "Global feminization through flexible labor," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 17(7), pages 1077-1095, July.
    11. Matthias Busse & Christian Spielmann, 2006. "Gender Inequality and Trade," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(3), pages 362-379, August.
    12. Edwards, Sebastian, 1998. "Openness, Productivity and Growth: What Do We Really Know?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 108(447), pages 383-398, March.
    13. Steven Pressman, 2003. "The Feminist Explanations for the Feminization of Poverty," LIS Working papers 351, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    14. Seguino, Stephanie, 2000. "Gender Inequality and Economic Growth: A Cross-Country Analysis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 28(7), pages 1211-1230, July.
    15. Khattry, Barsha & Mohan Rao, J., 2002. "Fiscal Faux Pas?: An Analysis of the Revenue Implications of Trade Liberalization," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(8), pages 1431-1444, August.
    16. Horton, Susan, 1999. "Marginalization Revisited: Women's Market Work and Pay, and Economic Development," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 571-582, March.
    17. Keiko Kubota, 2005. "Fiscal Constraints, Collection Costs, And Trade Policies," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(1), pages 129-150, March.
    18. World Bank, 2004. "World Development Indicators 2004," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 13890.
    19. Günseli Berik & Yana van der Meulen Rodgers & Joseph E. Zveglich, 2004. "International Trade and Gender Wage Discrimination: Evidence from East Asia," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 8(2), pages 237-254, May.
    20. Gray, Mark M. & Kittilson, Miki Caul & Sandholtz, Wayne, 2006. "Women and Globalization: A Study of 180 Countries, 1975–2000," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 60(2), pages 293-333, April.
    21. Malte Lübker & Graham Smith & John Weeks, 2002. "Growth and the poor: a comment on Dollar and Kraay," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 14(5), pages 555-571.
    22. Kraay, Aart, 2006. "When is growth pro-poor? Evidence from a panel of countries," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(1), pages 198-227, June.
    23. Jeffrey D. Sachs & Andrew Warner, 1995. "Economic Reform and the Process of Global Integration," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 26(1, 25th A), pages 1-118.
    24. repec:bla:rdevec:v:6:y:2002:i:1:p:103-19 is not listed on IDEAS
    25. Ozler, Sule, 2000. "Export Orientation and Female Share of Employment: Evidence from Turkey," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 28(7), pages 1239-1248, July.
    26. Scheve, Kenneth F. & Slaughter, Matthew J., 2001. "What determines individual trade-policy preferences?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(2), pages 267-292, August.
    27. Stephanie Seguino & Thomas Stevens & Mark Lutz, 1996. "Gender and cooperative behavior: economic man rides alone," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 2(1), pages 1-21.
    28. Buvinic, Mayra & Gupta, Geeta Rao, 1997. "Female-Headed Households and Female-Maintained Families: Are They Worth Targeting to Reduce Poverty in Developing Countries?," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 45(2), pages 259-280, January.
    29. Dani Rodrik, 1998. "Has Globalization Gone Too Far?," Challenge, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(2), pages 81-94, March.
    30. Caren Grown, 2005. "Trade Liberalization and Reproductive Health: A framework for understanding the linkages," Development, Palgrave Macmillan;Society for International Deveopment, vol. 48(4), pages 28-42, December.
    31. Stephan Klasen, 2002. "Low Schooling for Girls, Slower Growth for All? Cross-Country Evidence on the Effect of Gender Inequality in Education on Economic Development," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 16(3), pages 345-373, December.
    32. Cagatay, Nilufer & Ozler, Sule, 1995. "Feminization of the labor force: The effects of long-term development and structural adjustment," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 23(11), pages 1883-1894, November.
    33. Stephanie Seguino, 2000. "Accounting for Gender in Asian Economic Growth," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(3), pages 27-58.
    34. Brown, David S., 2004. "Democracy and Gender Inequality in Education: A Cross-National Examination," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 34(01), pages 137-152, January.
    35. Jagdish N. Bhagwati, 2004. "In Defense of Globalization: It Has a Human Face," Rivista di Politica Economica, SIPI Spa, vol. 94(6), pages 9-20, November-.
    36. Elson, Diane, 1999. "Labor Markets as Gendered Institutions: Equality, Efficiency and Empowerment Issues," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 611-627, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Amjad Ali & Marc Audi, 2016. "The Impact of Income Inequality, Environmental Degradation and Globalization on Life Expectancy in Pakistan: An Empirical Analysis," International Journal of Economics and Empirical Research (IJEER), The Economics and Social Development Organization (TESDO), vol. 4(4), pages 182-193, April.
    2. Ali Fakih & Pascal Ghazalian, 2015. "Female employment in MENA’s manufacturing sector: the implications of firm-related and national factors," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 48(1), pages 37-69, February.
    3. Simplice A. Asongu & Uchenna Efobi & Belmondo V. Tanankem & Evans S. Osabuohien, 2019. "Globalisation and Female Economic Participation in Sub-Saharan Africa," Working Papers of The Association for Promoting Women in Research and Development in Africa (ASPROWORDA). 19/005, The Association for Promoting Women in Research and Development in Africa (ASPROWORDA).
    4. Isis Gaddis & Janneke Pieters, 2017. "The Gendered Labor Market Impacts of Trade Liberalization: Evidence from Brazil," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 52(2), pages 457-490.
    5. Asrifa Hossain & Shankar Ghimire & Anna Valeva & Jessica Harriger-Lin, 2022. "Does Globalization Encourage Female Employment? A Cross-Country Panel Study," World, MDPI, vol. 3(2), pages 1-13, March.
    6. Bergh, Andreas & Nilsson, Therese, 2010. "Good for Living? On the Relationship between Globalization and Life Expectancy," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(9), pages 1191-1203, September.
    7. Hauck, K. & Martin, S. & Smith, P.C., 2016. "Priorities for action on the social determinants of health: Empirical evidence on the strongest associations with life expectancy in 54 low-income countries, 1990–2012," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 88-98.
    8. Bergh, Andreas & Nilsson, Therese, 2009. "Good for living? On the relation between globalization and life expectancy," Working Papers 2009:9, Lund University, Department of Economics.
    9. Simplice A. Asongu & Uchenna R. Efobi & Belmondo V. Tanankem, 2017. "On the Relationship between Globalisation and the Economic Participation of Women in Sub-Saharan Africa," Research Africa Network Working Papers 17/001, Research Africa Network (RAN).
    10. Lv, Zhike & Yang, Rudai, 2018. "Does women’s participation in politics increase female labor participation? Evidence from panel data analysis," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 35-38.
    11. Jacob Novignon & Yaw Boateng Atakorah & Gbetoton Nadege Djossou, 2018. "How Does the Health Sector Benefit from Trade Openness? Evidence from Sub‐Saharan Africa," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 30(2), pages 135-148, June.
    12. Filipski, Mateusz & Edward Taylor, J. & Msangi, Siwa, 2011. "Effects of Free Trade on Women and Immigrants: CAFTA and the Rural Dominican Republic," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(10), pages 1862-1877.
    13. Lili Huang & Qingyi Gao & Jiachen Fan & Jingwen Zhu & Zhenmu Hong, 2024. "Export stability and adolescent fertility rate," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 36(3), pages 1675-1706, April.
    14. Bataka, Hodabalo, 2024. "Global value chains participation and gender inequalities in Sub-Saharan Africa: Importance of women education," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    15. Bárcena‐Martín, Elena & Medina‐Claros, Samuel & Pérez‐Moreno, Salvador, 2020. "Economic gender gap in the Global South: how institutional quality matters," MERIT Working Papers 2020-025, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    16. Fredj Jawadi & Sami Gouddi & Zied Ftiti & Abdeljaoued Kacem, 2018. "Assessing the Effect of Trade Openness on Health in the MENA Region: a Panel Data Analysis," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 29(2), pages 469-479, April.
    17. Muhammad Tariq Majeed, 2018. "Quality of Life and Globalization: Evidence from Islamic Countries," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 13(3), pages 709-725, September.
    18. Aboohamidi, Abbas & Chidmi, Benaissa, 2013. "Female Labor Force Participation in Pakistan and Some MENA Countries," 2013 Annual Meeting, February 2-5, 2013, Orlando, Florida 143097, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    19. Ahmed, Salma & Feeny, Simon & Posso, Alberto, 2015. "What firm characteristics determine women’s employment in manufacturing? Evidence from Bangladesh," MPRA Paper 84492, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Gnangnon, Sèna Kimm, 2023. "Export Product Quality and Inclusivity in Developing Countries," EconStor Preprints 274651, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    21. Tatyana Chesnokova & Jesmin Rupa & Nicholas Sim, 2015. "Export Exposure and Gender Specific Work Participation in Indonesia," School of Economics and Public Policy Working Papers 2015-16, University of Adelaide, School of Economics and Public Policy.
    22. Burak Sencer Atasoy, 2017. "Female Labour Force Participation in Turkey: The Role of Traditionalism," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 29(4), pages 675-706, August.
    23. Md. Samsul Alam & Syed Ali Raza & Muhammad Shahbaz & Qaisar Abbas, 2016. "Accounting for Contribution of Trade Openness and Foreign Direct Investment in Life Expectancy: The Long-Run and Short-Run Analysis in Pakistan," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 129(3), pages 1155-1170, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Neumayer, Eric & de Soysa, Indra, 2011. "Globalization and the Empowerment of Women: An Analysis of Spatial Dependence via Trade and Foreign Direct Investment," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(7), pages 1065-1075, July.
    2. Eric Neumayer & Indra De Soysa, 2007. "Globalisation, Women's Economic Rights and Forced Labour," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(10), pages 1510-1535, October.
    3. Stephanie Seguino & Caren Grown, 2006. "Gender equity and globalization: macroeconomic policy for developing countries," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 18(8), pages 1081-1104.
    4. Remco H. Oostendorp, 2009. "Globalization and the Gender Wage Gap," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 23(1), pages 141-161, January.
    5. Matthias Busse & Christian Spielmann, 2006. "Gender Inequality and Trade," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(3), pages 362-379, August.
    6. Ebru Kongar, 2005. "Importing Equality or Exporting Jobs?: Competition and Gender Wage and Employment Differentials in U.S. Manufacturing," Working Paper Series, Department of Economics, University of Utah 2005_13, University of Utah, Department of Economics.
    7. Amaia Altuzarra & Catalina Gálvez-Gálvez & Ana González-Flores, 2021. "Is Gender Inequality a Barrier to Economic Growth? A Panel Data Analysis of Developing Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-21, January.
    8. Stephanie Seguino & Caren A. Grown, 2006. "Feminist-Kaleckian Macroeconomic Policy for Developing Countries," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_446, Levy Economics Institute.
    9. Stephanie Seguino, 2008. "Gender, Distribution, and Balance of Payments (revised 10/08)," Working Papers wp133_revised, Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
    10. repec:ocp:rpaper:pp-1908 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Klasen, Stephan, 2020. "From ‘MeToo’ to Boko Haram: A survey of levels and trends of gender inequality in the world," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    12. Mohammad Amin & Asif Islam, 2015. "Does Mandating Nondiscrimination in Hiring Practices Influence Women's Employment? Evidence Using Firm-Level Data," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(4), pages 28-60, October.
    13. Baslevent, Cem & Onaran, Ozlem, 2004. "The Effect of Export-Oriented Growth on Female Labor Market Outcomes in Turkey," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(8), pages 1375-1393, August.
    14. Haroon Ur Rashid Khan & Anwar Khan & Khalid Zaman & Agha Amad Nabi & Sanil S. Hishan & Talat Islam, 2017. "Gender discrimination in education, health, and labour market: a voice for equality," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 51(5), pages 2245-2266, September.
    15. Audi, Marc & Ali, Amjad, 2016. "Gender Gap and Trade Liberalization: An Analysis of some selected SAARC countries," MPRA Paper 83520, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Amin,Mohammad & Islam,Asif Mohammed, 2021. "Exports and Women Workers in Formal Firms," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9527, The World Bank.
    17. Antonopoulos, Rania., 2009. "The unpaid care work : paid work connection," ILO Working Papers 994274043402676, International Labour Organization.
    18. Veeramani, Choorikkad & Banerjee, Purna, 2022. "Exchange rate fluctuations, labour laws, and gender differences in job flows: Analysis of manufacturing industries across Indian states," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    19. repec:ocp:rpaper:rp-1909 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Schultz, T. Paul, 2006. "Does the Liberalization of Trade Advance Gender Equality in Schooling and Health?," Center Discussion Papers 28430, Yale University, Economic Growth Center.
    21. Meghna Dutta, 2018. "Globalisation, Corruption and Women Empowerment," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 37(3), pages 327-343, September.
    22. Dildar, Yasemin, 2015. "Patriarchal Norms, Religion, and Female Labor Supply: Evidence from Turkey," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 40-61.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:37:y:2009:i:6:p:1027-1038. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/worlddev .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.