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Does Globalization Increase Child Labor? Evidence from Vietnam

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Author Info
Eric Edmonds
Nina Pavcnik

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Abstract

This paper considers the impact of liberalized trade policy on child labor in a developing country. While trade liberalization entails an increase in the relative price of the exported product, trade theory provides ambiguous predictions on how this price change affects the incidence of child labor. In this paper, we exploit regional and intertemporal variation in the real price of rice to examine the relationship between price movements of a primary export and the economic activities of children. Using a panel of Vietnamese households, we find that reductions in child labor are increasing with rice prices. Declines in child labor are largest for girls of secondary school age, and we find a corresponding increase in school attendance for this group. Overall, rice price increases can account for almost half of the decline in child labor that occurs in Vietnam in the 1990s. Greater market integration, at least in this case, appears to be associated with less child labor. Our results suggest that the use of trade sanctions on exports from developing countries to eradicate child labor is unlikely to yield the desired outcome.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 8760.

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Date of creation: Jan 2002
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:8760

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F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration
F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Country and Industry Studies of Trade

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
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    Other versions:
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  8. Dollar, David, 2002. "Reform, growth, and poverty in Vietnam," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2837, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
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  24. Glewwe, Paul & Jacoby, Hanan G., 2004. "Economic growth and the demand for education: is there a wealth effect?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(1), pages 33-51, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Dehejia, Rajeev H. & Gatti, Roberta, 2002. "Child labor : the role of income variability and access to credit in a cross-section of countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2767, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  2. Jorge Soares, 2008. "Borrowing Constraints, Parental Altruism and Welfare," Working Papers 08-12, University of Delaware, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  3. Li, KW & Pang, Iris A.J. & Ng, Michael C.M., 2007. "Can Performance of Indigenous Factors Influence Growth and Globalisation?"," MPRA Paper 2083, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  4. Rajeev Dehejia & Roberta Gatti, 2002. "Child Labor: The Role of Income Variability and Access to Credit Across Countries," NBER Working Papers 9018, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  5. Guido G. Porto, 2003. "Using survey data to assess the distributional effects of trade policy," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3137, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Christopher Udry, 2003. "Child Labor," Working Papers 856, Economic Growth Center, Yale University. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. Sonia Bhalotra & Christopher Heady, 2003. "Child Farm Labor: The Wealth Paradox," Bristol Economics Discussion Papers 03/553, Department of Economics, University of Bristol, UK. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  8. Busse, Matthias & Braun, Sebastian, 2003. "Export Structure, FDI and Child Labour," Discussion Paper Series 26174, Hamburg Institute of International Economics. [Downloadable!]
  9. L.Guarcello & F.Mealli & F.Rosati, 2002. "Household Vulnerability and Child Labour: the Effect of Shocks, Credit Rationing and Insurance," UCW Working Paper 3, Understanding Children's Work (UCW Project). [Downloadable!]
  10. Richard B. Freeman, 2003. "Trade Wars: The Exaggerated Impact of Trade in Economic Debate," NBER Working Papers 10000, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  11. Ann Harrison & Jason Scorse, 2004. "Moving Up or Moving Out? Anti-Sweatshop Activists and Labor Market Outcomes," NBER Working Papers 10492, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Emma Aisbett, 2005. "Why are the Critics so Convinced that Globalization is Bad for the Poor?," NBER Working Papers 11066, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  13. Owen A O'Donnell & Furio C. Rosati & Eddy van Doorslaer, 2004. "Health Effects of Child Work: Evidence from Rural Vietnam," CEIS Research Paper 53, Tor Vergata University, CEIS. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  14. Thomas W. Hertel, 2006. "A Survey of Findings on the Poverty Impacts of Agricultural Trade Liberalization," The Electronic Journal of Agricultural and Development Economics, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, vol. 3(1), pages 1-26. [Downloadable!]
  15. Orazem, Peter & Gunnarsson, L. Victoria, 2004. "Child Labour, School Attendance and Performance: A Review," Staff General Research Papers 11177, Iowa State University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  16. Patricia Justino & Julie Litchfield, 2003. "Poverty Dynamics in Rural Vietnam: Winners and Losers During Reform," PRUS Working Papers 10, Poverty Research Unit at Sussex, University of Sussex. [Downloadable!]
  17. Yoko Niimi & Puja Vasudeva Dutta & Alan Winters, 2003. "Trade Liberalisation and Poverty Dynamics in Vietnam," PRUS Working Papers 17, Poverty Research Unit at Sussex, University of Sussex. [Downloadable!]
  18. Edmonds & Eric V., 2004. "Household composition and the response of child labor supply to product market integration: evidence from Vietnam," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3235, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  19. Drusilla K. Brown & Alan V. Deardorff & Robert M Stern, 2002. "The Effects of Multinational Production on Wages and Working Conditions in Developing Countries," Working Papers 486, Research Seminar in International Economics, University of Michigan. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
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