No CrossRef data available.
Article contents
Segregated Economies in an Integrated World: The Gendered Consequences of Exchange Rate Movements in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 September 2023
Abstract
I argue that exchange rates are an underappreciated explanation for the significant variation in the extent of female labor force participation in developing countries. Occupational segregation in developing countries is such that women working outside of the home tend to be segregated in labor-intensive export-oriented industries. Consequently, when an overvalued exchange rate increases export prices, it reduces commensurately the demand for female labor. This causes some women to drop out of the labor force. Data from over 150 low- and middle-income countries between 1990 and 2015 support this argument.
Keywords
- Type
- Research Note
- Information
- Copyright
- Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The IO Foundation
References
Aguayo-Tellez, Ernesto, Airola, Jim, Juhn, Chinhui, and Villegas-Sanchez, Carolina. 2014. Did Trade Liberalization Help Women? The Case of Mexico in the 1990s. In New Analyses of Worker Well-Being, edited by Polachek, Solomon W. and Tatsiramos, Konstantinos, 1–35. Research in Labor Economics, vol. 38. Emerald Group. Available at <https://doi.org/10.1108/S0147-9121(2013)0000038001>.Google Scholar
Alexander, Amy C., and Welzel, Christian. 2011. Islam and Patriarchy: How Robust Is Muslim Support for Patriarchal Values? International Review of Sociology 21 (2):249–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Altonji, Joseph G., and Blank, Rebecca M.. 1999. Race and Gender in the Labor Market. In Handbook of Labor Economics, vol. 3, edited by Ashenfelter, O. and Card, D., 3143–259. Elsevier Science.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Amiti, Mary, Itskhoki, Oleg, and Konings, Josef. 2014. Importers, Exporters, and Exchange Rate Disconnect. American Economic Review 104 (7):1942–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, Joan B., and Dimon, Denise. 1995. The Impact of Opening Markets on Mexican Male/Female Wage and Occupational Differentials. Social Science Journal 32 (4):309–26. Available at <https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0362331995900241>.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anker, Richard. 2001. Theories of Occupational Segregation by Sex: An Overview. In Women, Gender, and Work: What Is Equality and How Do We Get There? edited by Loutfi, Martha Fetherolf, 315–39. International Labour Office.Google Scholar
Arrow, Kenneth J. 1973. The Theory of Discrimination. In Discrimination in Labor Markets, edited by Ashenfelter, O.A. and Rees, A., 3–42. Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Başlevent, Cem, and Onaran, Ozlem. 2004. The Effect of Export-Oriented Growth on Female Labor Market Outcomes in Turkey. World Development 32:1375–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bayanpourtehrani, Ghazal, and Sylwester, Kevin. 2013. Democracy and Female Labor Force Participation: An Empirical Examination. Social Indicators Research 112 (3):749–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bergmann, Barbara R. 1974. Occupational Segregation, Wages and Profits When Employers Discriminate by Race or Sex. Eastern Economic Journal 1 (2):103–110. Available at <http://www.jstor.org/stable/40315472>.Google Scholar
Broz, J. Lawrence, Frieden, Jeffry, and Weymouth, Stephen. 2008. Exchange Rate Policy Attitudes: Direct Evidence from Survey Data. IMF Staff Papers 55 (3):417–44. Available at <http://www.jstor.org/stable/40377783>.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bruton, Henry J. 1998. A Reconsideration of Import Substitution. Journal of Economic Literature 36 (2): 903–36.Google Scholar
Bussmann, Margit. 2008. The Effect of Trade Openness on Women's Welfare and Work Life. World Development 37 (6):1027–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Çağatay, Nilüfer, and Özler, Şule. 1995. Feminization of the Labor Force: The Effects of Long-Term Development and Structural Adjustment. World Development 23 (11):1883–94. Available at <https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0305750X9500086R>.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cao, Zhongyu, Ghoul, Sadok El, Guedhami, Omrane, and Kwok, Chuck. 2020. National Culture and the Choice of Exchange Rate Regime. Journal of International Money and Finance 101:102091. Available at <https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261560618306983>.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caraway, Teri L. 2006. Gendered Paths of Industrialization: A Cross-Regional Comparative Analysis. Studies in Comparative International Development 41 (1):26–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cook, Scott J., Hays, Jude C., and Franzese, Robert J.. 2023. STADL Up! The Spatio-Temporal Autoregressive Distributed Lag Model for TSCS Data Analysis. American Political Science Review 117 (1):59–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coppedge, Michael, Gerring, John, Knutsen, Carl Henrik, Lindberg, Staffan I., Teorell, Jan, Altman, David, Bernhard, Michael, et al. 2019. V-Dem [Country-Year/Country-Date] Dataset v9. Varieties of Democracy Project. Available at <https://doi.org/10.23696/vdemcy19>.CrossRef.>Google Scholar
De Boef, Suzanna, and Keele, Luke. 2008. Taking Time Seriously. American Journal of Political Science 52 (1):184–200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elson, Diane, and Pearson, Ruth. 1981. The Subordination of Women and the Internationalization of Factor Production. In Of Marriage and the Market: Women's Subordination in International Perspective, edited by Young, K., Wolkowitz, C., and McCullagh, R., 18–40. Routledge.Google Scholar
Fernández, Raquel, and Fogli, Alessandra. 2009. Culture: An Empirical Investigation of Beliefs, Work, and Fertility. American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics 1 (1):146–77.Google Scholar
Fernández, Raquel, Fogli, Alessandra, and Olivetti, Claudia. 2004. Mothers and Sons: Preference Formation and Female Labor Force Dynamics. Quarterly Journal of Economics 119 (4):1249–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fleck, Susan. 2001. A Gender Perspective on Maquila Employment and Wages in Mexico. In The Economics of Gender in Mexico, edited by Katz, Elizabeth G. and Correia, Maria C., 133–73. World Bank.Google Scholar
Fortin, Nicole M. 2005. Gender Role Attitudes and the Labour-Market Outcomes of Women Across OECD Countries. Oxford Review of Economic Policy 21 (3):416–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frenkel, Roberto, and Ros, Jaime. 2006. Unemployment and the Real Exchange Rate in Latin America. World Development 34 (4):631–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frieden, Jeffry A. 1991. Invested Interests: The Politics of National Economic Policies in a World of Global Finance. International Organization 45 (4):425–51. Available at <http://www.jstor.org/stable/2706944>.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fussell, Elizabeth. 2000. Making Labor Flexible: The Recomposition of Tijuana's Maquiladora Female Labor Force. Feminist Economics 6 (3):59–79. Available at <https://doi.org/10.1080/135457000750020137>.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goldin, Claudia. 1995. The U-Shaped Female Labor Force Function in Economic Development and Economic History. In Investment in Women's Human Capital and Economic Development, edited by Schultz, T.P., 61–90. University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Hays, Jude, González-Rostani, Valentina, Cook, Scott, Franzese, Robert, and Kim, Wooseok. 2021. tscsdep: Tools for Analyzing Country-Year Time-Series-Cross-Sectional Data with Spatial and Temporal Dependence. Version 0.1.0. Available at <https://github.com/judechays/STADL>.Google Scholar
Heath, Rachel, and Mobarak, A. Mushfiq. 2015. Manufacturing Growth and the Lives of Bangladeshi Women. Journal of Development Economics 115:1–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ilzetzki, Ethan, Reinhart, Carmen, and Rogoff, Kenneth S.. 2019. Exchange Arrangements Entering the Twenty-First Century: Which Anchor Will Hold? Quarterly Journal of Economics 134 (2):599–646.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Iversen, Torben, and Rosenbluth, Frances. 2010. Women, Work, and Politics: The Political Economy of Gender Inequality. Yale Univeristy Press.Google Scholar
Jensen, Robert. 2012. Do Labor Market Opportunities Affect Young Women's Work and Family Decisions? Experimental Evidence from India. Quarterly Journal of Economics 127 (2):753–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kang, Jong Woo, and Dagli, Suzette. 2018. International Trade and Exchange Rates. Journal of Applied Economics 21 (1):84–105. Available at <https://doi.org/10.1080/15140326.2018.1526878>.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kenworthy, Lane, and Malami, Melissa. 1999. Gender Inequality in Political Representation: A Worldwide Comparative Analysis. Social Forces 78 (1):235–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kopinak, Kathryn. 1995. Gender as a Vehicle for the Subordination of Women Maquiladora Workers in Mexico. Latin American Perspectives 22 (84):30–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leblang, David A. 1999. Domestic Political Institutions and Exchange Rate Commitments in the Developing World. International Studies Quarterly 43 (4):599–620. Available at <http://www.jstor.org/stable/3014023>.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lim, Linda Y.C. 1983. Capitalism, Imperialism, and Patriarchy: The Dilemma of Third-World Women Workers in Multinational Factories. In Women, Men, and the International Division of Labor, edited by Nash, J. and Fernandez-Kelly, M., 70–91. State University of New York.Google Scholar
Lundberg, Shelly, and Pollak, Robert A.. 1996. Bargaining and Distribution in Marriage. Journal of Economic Perspectives 10 (4):139–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nalin, Lorenzo, and Moreno Brid, Juan Carlos. 2022. Current Account and Real Exchange Rate Equilibrium: The Case of Manufacturing in Mexico, 2001–2019. Brazilian Journal of Political Economy 42 (4):914–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Norris, Pippa. 2014. Mecca or Oil? Why Arab States Lag in Gender Equality. In The Civic Culture Transformed: From Allegiant to Assertive Citizens, edited by Dalton, Russell J. and Welzel, Christian, 240–260. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ozler, Sule. 2000. Export Orientation and Female Share of Employment: Evidence from Turkey. World Development 28:1239–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Park, Kyung Ae. 1993. Women and Development: The Case of South Korea. Comparative Politics 25 (2): 127–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearl, Judea, Glymour, Madelyn, and Jewell, Nicholas P.. 2016. Causal Inference in Statistics. Wiley.Google Scholar
Quinn, Dennis P., and Weymouth, Stephen. 2017. The Political Determinants of Exchange Rate Valuations: Why Democracies Tend Toward “Neutral” and Stable Currency Valuations. Paper presented at the European Political Science Association meeting, Milan.Google Scholar
Rodrik, Dani. 1997. Has Globalization Gone Too Far? Peterson Institute for International Economics.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rodrik, Dani. 2008. The Real Exchange Rate and Economic Growth. Brookings Papers on Economic Activity 39 (2):365–439.Google Scholar
Ross, Michael L. 2008. Oil, Islam, and Women. American Political Science Review 102 (1):107–123.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sachs, Jeffrey D., and Warner, Andrew M.. 1997. Natural Resource Abundance and Economic Growth. Center for International Development and Harvard Institute for International Development.Google Scholar
Schlozman, Kay Lehman, Burns, Nancy, and Verba, Sidney. 1994. Gender and the Pathways to Participation: The Role of Resources. Journal of Politics 53 (4):963–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Standing, Guy. 1989. Global Feminization Through Flexible Labor. World Development 17 (7):1077–95. Available at <https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0305750X89901708>.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vaz, Paulo Herique, and Baer, Werner. 2014. Real Exchange Rate and Manufacturing Growth in Latin America. Latin American Economic Review 23 (2):1–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Villarreal, Andrés, and Yu, Wei-hsin. 2007. Economic Globalization and Women's Employment: The Case of Manufacturing in Mexico. American Sociological Review 72 (3):365–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wood, Adrian. 1991. North-South Trade and Female Labour in Manufacturing: An Asymmetry. Journal of Development Studies 27 (2):168–89. Available at <https://doi.org/10.1080/00220389108422191>.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
World Values Survey Association. 2015. World Values Survey Wave 6 2010-2014 Official Aggregate v.20150418. Aggregate File Producer, Asep/JDS, Madrid, Spain. Available at <https://www.worldvaluessurvey.org>..>Google Scholar
Simmons supplementary material
Simmons supplementary material
PDF
171.1 KB