The Gendered Labor Market Impacts of Trade Liberalization : Evidence from Brazil

This paper investigates gender differences in the impact of Brazil's trade liberalization on labor market outcomes. To identify the causal effect of trade reforms, the paper uses difference-in-difference estimation exploiting variation...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Gaddis, Isis, Pieters, Janneke
Format: Policy Research Working Paper
Language:English
en_US
Published: World Bank Group, Washington, DC 2014
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2014/11/20365307/gendered-labor-market-impacts-trade-liberalization-evidence-brazil
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/20621
Description
Summary:This paper investigates gender differences in the impact of Brazil's trade liberalization on labor market outcomes. To identify the causal effect of trade reforms, the paper uses difference-in-difference estimation exploiting variation across microregions in pre-liberalization industry composition. The analysis finds that trade liberalization reduced male and female labor force participation and employment rates, but the effects on men were significantly larger. Thereby, tariff reductions contributed to gender convergence in labor force participation and employment rates. Gender differences are concentrated among the low-skilled population and in the tradable sector, where male and female workers are most likely to be imperfect substitutes.