The gendered labor market impacts of trade liberalization: evidence from Brazil

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of Brazil's trade liberalization on gender differences in labor market outcomes, using difference-in-difference estimation that exploits variation in pre-liberalization industry composition across microregions. We find that trade liberalization reduced male and female labor force participation rates and tradable sector employment rates, particularly among the low-skilled population. As aggregate effects on men are significantly larger, liberalization reduced the percentage point gender gap in employment and participation rates. However, in proportionate terms, we find no evidence that women’s employment and participation increased relative to men’s, or that women benefitted from the pro-competitive effects of free trade.