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Global Defeminization? Industrial Upgrading and Manufacturing Employment in Developing Countries

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  • Sheba Tejani
  • William Milberg

Abstract

Globalization has for decades been associated with a rise in the female share of employment or feminization. This study finds that since the mid 1980s, export growth in developing countries is associated with feminization in some countries and a defeminization in others. Focusing on Southeast Asia and Latin America, it uses a fixed-effects econometric model to test whether the technological conditions of production (labor or capital intensity) rather than export growth account for shifts in the female share of employment in manufacturing. It finds that the capital intensity of production, evidenced by shifts in labor productivity, is negatively and significantly related to shifts in the female share of employment in manufacturing, while exports are statistically insignificant. The study concludes that an anti-female bias exists in labor demand changes that result from output or employment shifts in developing countries when manufacturing becomes more capital intensive, a process likely related to industrial upgrading.

Suggested Citation

  • Sheba Tejani & William Milberg, 2016. "Global Defeminization? Industrial Upgrading and Manufacturing Employment in Developing Countries," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(2), pages 24-54, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:femeco:v:22:y:2016:i:2:p:24-54
    DOI: 10.1080/13545701.2015.1120880
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    Cited by:

    1. Veeramani, Choorikkad & Banerjee, Purna, 2022. "Exchange rate fluctuations, labour laws, and gender differences in job flows: Analysis of manufacturing industries across Indian states," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    2. Zuazu-Bermejo, Izaskun, 2022. "Robots and women in manufacturing employment," ifso working paper series 19, University of Duisburg-Essen, Institute for Socioeconomics (ifso).
    3. Karol Fernández Delgado, . "Assessing the impact of foreign ownership on firm performance by size: evidence from firms in developed and developing countries," UNCTAD Transnational Corporations Journal, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
    4. Jaerim Choi & Theresa M. Greaney, 2022. "Global Influences On Gender Inequality: Evidence From Female Employment In Korea," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 63(1), pages 291-328, February.
    5. Amene Afework Jenberu & Getaye Mulugeta Kasse, 2021. "Deriving forces and socioeconomic status of women in the urban informal sector in Bichena Town, West-Central Ethiopia," Journal of Social and Economic Development, Springer;Institute for Social and Economic Change, vol. 23(2), pages 258-282, December.
    6. Aashima Sinha, 2023. "The Road to Gender-Equitable Growth: A State-level Analysis of Social Reproduction in the U.S," Working Paper Series, Department of Economics, University of Utah 2023_03, University of Utah, Department of Economics.
    7. Sheba Tejani & David Kucera, 2021. "Defeminization, Structural Transformation and Technological Upgrading in Manufacturing," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 52(3), pages 533-573, May.
    8. Mina Baliamoune-Lutz, 2020. "Trade and Women’s Wage Employment," Research papers & Policy papers 1908, Policy Center for the New South.
    9. Manuel Santos Silva & Stephan Klasen, 2021. "Gender inequality as a barrier to economic growth: a review of the theoretical literature," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 581-614, September.
    10. Rezart Hoxhaj & Florian Miti, 2020. "Do Foreign Firms Transfer Gender Norms in the Labour Market? Evidence from Sub‐Saharan Africa," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 88(3), pages 227-241, September.
    11. Kossi Edem Baita & Kwami Ossadzifo Wonyra, 2023. "Effet global du genre dans le développement des chaînes de valeur mondiales dans le contexte africain," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 35(4), pages 365-375, December.
    12. Nicola Gagliardi & Benoît Mahy & François Rycx, 2018. "Upstreamness, social upgrading and gender: Equal benefits for all?," Working Paper Research 359, National Bank of Belgium.
    13. Nicola Gagliardi & Benoît Mahy & François Rycx, 2019. "Does firms’ position in global value chains matter for workers’ wages?. An overview with a gender perspective," Reflets et perspectives de la vie économique, De Boeck Université, vol. 0(4), pages 55-62.
    14. Nicola Gagliardi & Benoît Mahy & François Rycx, 2021. "Upstreamness, Wages and Gender: Equal Benefits for All?," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 59(1), pages 52-83, March.
    15. Sonja Avlijas, 2016. "Vicious and virtuous cycles of female labour force participation in post-socialist Eastern Europe," LEQS – LSE 'Europe in Question' Discussion Paper Series 119, European Institute, LSE.
    16. Irene Selwaness & Caroline Krafft, 2021. "The Dynamics of Family Formation and Women’s Work: What Facilitates and Hinders Female Employment in the Middle East and North Africa?," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 40(3), pages 533-587, June.
    17. Erten, Bilge & Metzger, Martina, 2019. "The real exchange rate, structural change, and female labor force participation," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 296-312.
    18. Firat Demir & Saleh S. Tabrizy, 2022. "Gendered effects of sanctions on manufacturing employment: Evidence from Iran," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(4), pages 2040-2069, November.
    19. Mina Baliamoune, 2022. "Trade and Youth Labor Market Outcomes: Empirical Evidence and Policy Implications," Research papers & Policy papers 1945, Policy Center for the New South.
    20. repec:gdk:wpaper:57 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Shaianne T. Osterreich, 2019. "Gender and Comparative Advantage: Feminist–Heterodox Theorizing about Globalization," Economies, MDPI, vol. 7(2), pages 1-12, May.
    22. Mina Baliamoune-Lutz, 2020. "Trade and Women’s Wage Employment," Research papers & Policy papers 1909, Policy Center for the New South.

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