Title: Gender, Trade and Development
1Gender, Trade and Development
- Oxfam / Gender Action Network, Beijing, China
- 4 December 2006
2Overview
- Introduction
- I. Trade, development and Gender Equality In
conflict or in synergy? - II. Gender and Trade frameworks, Empirical
findings and Sectoral approach - III.Towards a sustainable gender friendly
trade-development agenda
3Trade and development
- Issues
- Of social development social protection
- Social and gender equity
- Industrial development
- Employment, sustainable livelihoods working
conditions
4Tensions between the role of trade and
development
- developmental costs of trade include lack of
attention to production capacity in the domestic
economydue to discontinuities in industrial and
development policies as a result of over focusing
on trade reform etc, lack of attention to human
resource development etc.
- social costs that can be linked to trade or that
are trade related include included rising
inequality, food insecurity, and trade
liberalization induced fiscal revenue shortfall
which endangered social sector spending.
5Where does gender equality, poverty eradication
fits in?
- Current patterns of trade (and trade rule-making)
present significant challenges for gender
equality objectives, which may have significant
untowards effects for long-term
development. WHY? - Gender
- Gender and growth/trade debate
- Female led export growth limits and constraints
6Defining gender
- gender as a relation of power, is a social
stratifier that influences the distribution of
output, work, income, wealth etc. (IWGEM). And
since, gender also influences the behavior of
economic agents it is critical to our
understanding of the economy as well as the role
of trade in the global economy. As noted by
feminist economists, institutions, including
free markets, that mediate between macro and
micro levels of the economy bear and transmit
gender biases so cannot be assumed to be gender
neutral.
7Trade, development and gender equality
- Mainstream economists take a glance at gender and
trade/ growth, they tend to see nothing but the
good trade liberalization creates employment
that benefits women and or import competition
diminishes gender discrimination in labour
markets. (Bhagwati, In defense of globalization)
- Feminist Economics, trade impacts on
- household economy market economy
- division of labor in between men and women
- paid and unpaid work and its contribution to the
market, - access to resources, intra household distribution
of income and resources and the condition under
which entrepreneurs do business.
8 Trade, development and gender equality
- Gender issues and outcomes emanating from
globalisation and trade liberalization include - Feminisation of labour market
- ? or ? access to economic and social resources
(land, credit, technology training) for women
relative to men - ? or ?unpaid work in home and community
- ? of tariff ? government budgets ? cuts in
social programs or ? in regressive taxesimpacts
women more so than men
9 Trade, development and gender equality
- The present pattern of trade (and trade
rule-making) presents significant challenges for
gender equality objectives and have implications
for long-term development. - Â
10Empirical evidence on GT
- UNCTAD 2004, UN 1999 argue that trade may impact
gender equality through - Â a positive or negative impact on growth and
employment opportunities. When trade results in
increased income and employment, this can lead to
reduction in gender inequality. This can be
easily offset by problems with the condition of
work and lack of health and safety precaution.
11Empirical evidence on GT Relevant to South Asia
- Competitive pressures from trade and investment
may reduce or encouraged gender discrimination,
in particular wage differential.
12Empirical evidence on GT
- Fontana and Woods 2000 found that in Bangladesh
there was a rise in female wages to male wages.
Battarchaya 1999 noted less wage discrimination
in the export textile industry in Bangladesh
compared to the other manufacturing sectors.
13Empirical evidence on GT
- But later study by Begum argue that the gap
between male-female earnings increased, 1990-1997
after an initial decline between 1983-1990 and
the earning gaps was widest, the higher the
skilled category ( cited in FG 2005).
14Empirical evidence on GT
- The point is that gender wage gap by itself is
not enough need to also look at occupational
segregation. So the trade-wage-gap is
contradictory.
15Empirical evidence on GT
- Facilitating or raising barriers to access by
women to resources and services. (How can SMEs
expand to the export market and or maintain
domestic market share. Here the issue is
financing and business incubation services,
market knowledge, mobility, competitiveness and
linkage to international production networks as
suppliersin manufacturing as well as non
traditional agricultural products). FG 2005.
16Empirical evidence on GT
- Trade rules may facilitate or constraint
government in applying policies or regulation
that address gender equality.
17Empirical evidence on GT
- There is also the issue of the quality trade off
in employment
18Empirical evidence on GT
- There is also the issue of focusing only or
mostly on womens market participation and
ignoring issues of well-being (in terms of loss
of leisure activities and double burden between
market work and reproductive work (FG 2005).
19Empirical evidence on GT
- Study using Nepal shows that women are likely to
increase market work, regardless of the amount of
time males spend in domestic work, in response to
tariff induced fiscal short value and imposition
of value added tax. - The increase in womens market activity showed up
in expansion of Nepals agricultural sectors, The
study concluded that (t)rade reform also
increases the leisure time of men (FG 2005)
20Empirical evidence on GT
- Trade in services in the region is also seen to
be linked to socially reproductive service
womens migrant work
21Gender and the success of trade and growth
strategies.
- Female employment in agriculture (mainly non
traditional agricultural exportsLatin America
and South Africa) and non-agriculture can lead to
increase income in export oriented industries.
(Frances Perkins found that a 1 increase in the
share of exports in developing countries may be
associated with a 0.2 increase in female non
agricultural employment cited in UN 1995.)
22Gender, trade and growth
- Gender, trade and growth contd.
- However, recent work on Taiwan, Hong Kong, South
Korea and Mexico show a decline or reversal of
womens share in manufacturesde-feminization.
Gender and the success of trade and growth
strategies.
23Gender inequality and growth problems
- Micro economic empirical evidence and
macroeconomic analysis indicates that gender
inequality directly and indirectly limits
economic growth, due to gender differences in
economic options, incentives and productivity.
24- Micro studies show that gender differences in
access to assets limit the options of women
gender differences in labor remuneration lead to
conflict and affect labour allocation at the
Household level gender difference in labor and
other factor productivity limits economic
efficiency and output. -
- Macro economic analysis on the determination of
growth. Findings in SSA gender differences in
education and employment, 1960-92, served to
reduce the annual per capita growth by 0.8
percentage points (which it is argued could have
double economic growth over the last 30 years).
25- Gender inequality seems to account for 15-20 of
the difference in growth performance between SSA
and East Asia (Klasen 1999). Klasen argues that
Uganda could gain up to 2 points of GDP growth
per year through addressing structural gender
based inequalities in education (total years of
schooling) and in formal sector employment. - The 2004 PEAP put this at 5 of GDP
- (Sources Gender and Growth Assessment Uganda.
Feb. 1, 2005.)
26- In linear programming models that examined the
implication of change in gender division of
labour on productivity of output, it was found
that if gender roles in farming was abandoned,
farm cash income would increase by about 10 and
productivity of labour by 15 and capital by 45
(Keller 1999 cited in Blacken). - Gender roles are not economic efficient
necessity for the liberalization of division of
labour. Blackden
27- Gender differential in education and health are
not an efficient economic choice. Societies that
under-invest in women pay a price for it in terms
of slower growth and lower income. Dollar and
Gatti Are Good times good for women? 1999
28Â Why is gender important in trade agreements and
policy?
- Gender analysis offers a more comprehensive,
in-depth and deeply integrative approach to look
at trade and development. - Gender analysis as developed within the body of
feminist economic analysis focuses on the
intertwine between the household sector, the
productive sector and the informal sector.
29Specific gender and trade issue in South Asia
- Francisco and Durano the linkages between gender
and trade in the Asia Pacific is clustered around
five areas of concern - 1. Womens livelihood and food security
(linking Agricultural products to NAMA) - 2.Womens employment, income, micro enterprises,
and cross broader trade in terms of industry
30Specific gender and trade issue in South Asia
- 3.Womens care work and access to care services
together with issues relating to Mode VI of GATS - 4. Women access to food and essential medicines
(TRIPS) - 5.Restrictions on domestic regulations that
impacts governments ability to respond to rights
and development issues (linkages to SDT, NTB,
Implementation and Accession).
31Â Why is gender important in trade agreements and
policy?
- It seeks to explicitly pinpoint the transfer
costs and adjustment burden associated with trade
liberalization-induced trade reforms on the
household economy, unpaid labor, and the overall
economic empowerment of men and women.
32Â Why is gender important in trade agreements and
policy?
- it highlights the feedback effect between gender
inequality and the performance of trade reform
geared towards the promotion of trade
liberalization. - Current research on gender and trade, highlight a
two-way intertwine between trade liberalization
and gender trade liberalization can increase or
decrease gender inequality and gender inequality
can lead to trade liberalization not achieving
the desired results.
33Â Why is gender important in trade agreements and
policy?
- Recognition of the underlying and existing gender
realities in the economy should compel policy
makers to also develop gender sensitive and
anti-poverty complementary policies or flanking
measures in the context of trade reform.
34Â Why is gender important in trade agreements and
policy?
- Such Measures include child care provisions,
changing or revising land and property rights,
providing incentives that allow credit
institutions to lend to women borrowers and or
building infrastructure (road, storage
facilities) closers to where women producers are
located. -
35Gender consideration is also important for the
success of trade and growth strategies.
- female employment in agriculture (mainly non
traditional agricultural exportsLatin America
and South Africa) and non-agriculture can lead to
increase income in export oriented industries.
(Frances Perkins found that a 1 increase in the
share of exports in developing countries may be
associated with a 0.2 increase in female non
agricultural employment cited in UN 1995.)
36Gender consideration is also important for the
success of trade and growth strategies.
- Joekes 1995, Standing 1989 and UN 1999 found that
industrialization in NIEs (Taiwan, Hong Kong,
South Korea and Singapore) is as much
female-led (the feminization of export) as it is
export-led. This supports observations that
(t) employment of large numbers of women in the
low-value chains of global production networks
often provides the stepping stone for a systemic
industrial strategy.
37Gender and trade liberalisation II
- gender-differentiated impacts of the interplay
between existing gender inequality and trade
policies include - gender specific effects of trade-induced
fiscal adjustment - gender specific effects of trade-induced
employment effect - gender effects of internal market adjustment.
- Â
38Trade liberalisation and womens well-being
empowerment
- Trade liberalization is associated with the
intensification of competition between and within
economies in the MTS. This is often played out at
the sub national level in terms of industrial
restructuring that creates tensions and dilemmas
around
39Tensions Dilemmas
- Poor and uneducated women versus middle and more
educated women over jobs, with the latter losing
ground in uncompetitive manufacturing sector
while the former may be experiencing greater
access to jobs in the emerging service
40Tensions Dilemmas 2
- Regional competition between women. When
regional trade arrangements as well as
multilateral agreements divert trade from one
region to another or among countries in a region,
women in one sector, say textile, in one country
or region may lose jobs to their counterparts in
the same sector in another country or region
41Tensions and Dilemmas 3
- Sustainability of income and livelihood.
- Threats to the sustainability of income and
wages. Low wage bias plague women workers in the
manufacturing sector and industrial agriculture.
Increase international competition in these
sectors have implications for womens long-term
economic viability.
42Tensions Dilemmas 4
- Empowerment.
- Jobs and income may increase some womens ability
to participate in decision-making in the
household especially around expenditure, savings
and investment decisions.
43Tensions Dilemmas 5
- This may bode well for improvement in childrens
and womens access to health and education.
44Tensions Dilemmas 6
- Perception of girls and women as liabilities
versus assets to family may shift to more
positive ones engendering more education for
girls at all levels (primary, secondary and
tertiary) and womens autonomy in personal
matters as well as contribute to reduction in
domestic violence.
45Core Questions from gender sensitive approach
- Does trade policy and agreements promote better
access to services that are essential for social
reproduction and sexual and reproductive health
(medicines, water, electrification/fuel,
sanitation etc), particularly for groups that
have been traditionally disadvantage or
vulnerable to poverty?
46Core question 2
- 2. What are the prevailing assumptions in making
the linkage between trade policy, social and
other policies in the formulation of trade
policy, trade negotiations mandate and
complementary trade support programs?
47Core question contd
- 3. Are differences between women and men in terms
of access to tangible (economic and social
resource) and intangible assets taken into
account in the implementation of trade policy and
trade agreements?
48Towards a sustainable gender sensitive trade
- At the national level
- Implement land reform for better access and
entitlement to land, especially for women. - Incorporate gender sensitive provisions in
domestic regulatory framework for services - Pay greater attention to decreasing wage
disparities
49Towards sustainable gender sensitive trade
- Create an adequate level of social
protection/universal service provisos/ safeguard
cross subsidization of services in rural areas - Strengthen the visibility of womens and mens
unpaid labour       Performance requirement for
foreign service provider (Riddle). This will
benefit women-owned and other SMEs. - Employment and pay equity legislation (Riddle).
-
50Towards sustainable gender sensitive trade
- More systematic national treatment of
remittances offers steady income and better
quality of life pull up effect on wages in home
country and increase womens skill quotient
benefit women directly contributes to
infrastructure development and improvement in
access of the poor to essential services
(transportation, water, electricity, education
and health care) and overall living standards
(UNCTAD 2004)
51Towards sustainable gender sensitive trade
- Upwards harmonization and safeguards of workers
rights - Gender equity and gender analysis and gender
indicators in assessing benefit gains, costs and
losses from trade - The promotion of comprehensive approach to human
rights in all bilateral, multilateral and
regional trade agreements - Gender sensitive trade related capacity building
- Gender sensitive export promotion
52Summing up
- The role of womens and mens location and
participation in the economy and how directional
shifts in trade orientation and trade reform
impacts on existing gaps in mens and womens
differential access to resources and the labor
market must be a critical factor in determining
the effectiveness of trade to the economy in the
medium and long term.
53- Good practices that will promote benefits for
women from trade (liberalisation) policy must
start with a trade policy that is oriented
towards poverty elimination and the promotion of
gender equality as explicit objectives.
54- It must be centred in a gender aware model of the
economy that specifically incorporates the
reproductive and informal sectors of the economy.
55- This means that attention must be paid to the
institutional factors that affect the supply and
demand for womens labour. These would include
56- Â Mens and womens time allocation
- Â Womens bargaining power and control of
household resources land and income.
57- Recognise and take action to mitigate the fact
that the economic activities of women are
constrained by technological disparities, factor
market rigidity, information bias, and the inter
sectoral mobility of resources.
58- The above points to the need for supportive
policies at national and sector levels to create
and enabling condition for women and men to
adjust to price incentives and other changing
economic circumstance brought about by trade
liberalisation. - Â
59- This would include mechanisms to promote more
gender sensitive expenditure allocations for
skill development, and skill upgrading, day care
and family assistance etc.