Gender, Informal Employment and Trade Liberalization in Mexico

B-Tier
Journal: World Bank Economic Review
Year: 2020
Volume: 34
Issue: 2
Pages: 259-283

Score contribution per author:

1.005 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

This paper studies how import liberalization affects formal employment across gender. The theory offers a mechanism to explain how male and female formal employment shares can respond differently to trade liberalization through labor reallocation across tradable and nontradable sectors. Using Mexican data over the period 1993–2001, we find that Mexican tariff cuts increase the probability of working formally for both men and women within four-digit manufacturing industries. The formalization of jobs within tradable sectors is driven by large firms. Constructing a regional tariff measure, we find that regional exposure to import liberalization increases the probability of working formally in the manufacturing sector for both men and women, and especially for men. However in the service sectors, the probability of working formally decreases for low-skilled women.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:oup:wbecrv:v:34:y:2020:i:2:p:259-283.
Journal Field
Development
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-24