IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ces/epofor/v26y2025i03p58-61.html

The Transmission of Gender (In-)Equality Through Commercial Links

Author

Listed:
  • Cemre Dane
  • Pia Heckl

Abstract

Global firms employ significantly more women than non-global firms. Commercial ties serve as channels for transmitting social norms from partner countries, influencing workforce composition in global firmsExposure to gender-equal norms increases the share of female workers across job types – but not in top management positions, where the effect vanishesIn gender-unequal commercial environments, global firms are significantly less likely to have female top managers, suggesting a “race to the bottom” in leadershipTo ensure inclusive benefits of globalization, policy interventions should focus on advancing women into senior roles, where equality gains currently fall short

Suggested Citation

  • Cemre Dane & Pia Heckl, 2025. "The Transmission of Gender (In-)Equality Through Commercial Links," EconPol Forum, CESifo, vol. 26(03), pages 58-61, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:epofor:v:26:y:2025:i:03:p:58-61
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.ifo.de/DocDL/econpol-forum-3-2025-heckl-etal-gender-in-equality.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sandra E. Black & Elizabeth Brainerd, 2004. "Importing Equality? The Impact of Globalization on Gender Discrimination," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 57(4), pages 540-559, July.
    2. Heckl, Pia & Lennon, Carolina & Schneebaum, Alyssa, 2025. "How is global commerce affecting the gender composition of employment? A firm-level analysis of the effects of exposure to gender norms via trade and FDI," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    3. Tang, Heiwai & Zhang, Yifan, 2021. "Do multinationals transfer culture? Evidence on female employment in China," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    4. Neumayer, Eric & de Soysa, Indra, 2011. "Globalization and the Empowerment of Women: An Analysis of Spatial Dependence via Trade and Foreign Direct Investment," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(7), pages 1065-1075, July.
    5. Juhn, Chinhui & Ujhelyi, Gergely & Villegas-Sanchez, Carolina, 2014. "Men, women, and machines: How trade impacts gender inequality," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 179-193.
    6. Claudia Olivetti & Barbara Petrongolo, 2017. "The Economic Consequences of Family Policies: Lessons from a Century of Legislation," Working Papers 811, Queen Mary University of London, School of Economics and Finance.
    7. Claudia Olivetti & Barbara Petrongolo, 2017. "The Economic Consequences of Family Policies: Lessons from a Century of Legislation in High-Income Countries," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 31(1), pages 205-230, Winter.
    8. Claudia Olivetti & Barbara Petrongolo, 2017. "The Economic Consequences of Family Policies: Lessons from a Century of Legislation in High-Income Countries," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 31(1), pages 205-230, Winter.
    9. Sauré, Philip & Zoabi, Hosny, 2014. "International trade, the gender wage gap and female labor force participation," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 17-33.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Heckl, Pia & Lennon, Carolina & Schneebaum, Alyssa, 2025. "How is global commerce affecting the gender composition of employment? A firm-level analysis of the effects of exposure to gender norms via trade and FDI," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    2. Alessandra Bonfiglioli & Federica de Pace, 2021. "Export, Female Comparative Advantage and the Gender Wage Gap," Working Papers 925, Queen Mary University of London, School of Economics and Finance.
    3. Hennig, Jan-Luca & Stadler, Balazs, 2021. "Firm-specific pay premiums and the gender wage gap in 21 European countries," VfS Annual Conference 2021 (Virtual Conference): Climate Economics 242354, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    4. Deng, Yue & Feng, Aiya & Hu, Dezhuang, 2025. "Gender earnings gap in Chinese firms: Can it be narrowed by industrial robots?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    5. Banerjee, Utsa & Peñarrieta, Luis Castro & Chakraborty, Pavel, 2025. "Can trade policy change gender equality? Evidence from Chile," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    6. Ivan D. Trofimov, 2024. "Convergence in gender inequality and gender development: a panel data evidence," Indian Economic Review, Springer, vol. 59(2), pages 601-647, December.
    7. Katrin Huber & Geske Rolvering, 2023. "Public child care and mothers’ career trajectories," Working Papers 228, Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE).
    8. World Bank & The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 2024. "Albania - Country Gender Assessment," World Bank Publications - Reports 41900, The World Bank Group.
    9. Nobel Prize Committee, 2023. "Scientific Background to the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2023," Nobel Prize in Economics documents 2023-2, Nobel Prize Committee.
    10. Henrik Kleven & Camille Landais & Jakob Egholt Søgaard, 2021. "Does Biology Drive Child Penalties? Evidence from Biological and Adoptive Families," American Economic Review: Insights, American Economic Association, vol. 3(2), pages 183-198, June.
    11. Barigozzi, Francesca & Cremer, Helmuth & Roeder, Kerstin, 2020. "Having it all, for all: Child-care subsidies and income distribution reconciled," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 188-211.
    12. Greaney, Theresa M. & Tanaka, Ayumu, 2021. "Foreign Ownership, Exporting and Gender Wage Gaps: Evidence from Japanese Linked Employer-Employee Data," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    13. World Bank & The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 2024. "Kosovo - Country Gender Assessment," World Bank Publications - Reports 41898, The World Bank Group.
    14. Mr. Francesco Grigoli & Zsoka Koczan & Petia Topalova, 2018. "Drivers of Labor Force Participation in Advanced Economies: Macro and Micro Evidence," IMF Working Papers 2018/150, International Monetary Fund.
    15. Libertad González Luna & Lidia Farré, 2017. "The effects of paternity leave on fertility and labor market outcomes," Economics Working Papers 1572, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
    16. Cevat Giray Aksoy & Jose Maria Barrero & Nicholas Bloom & Katelyn Cranney & Steven J. Davis & Mathias Dolls & Pablo Zarate, 2026. "Work from Home and Fertility," Working Papers 2026-36, Becker Friedman Institute for Research In Economics.
    17. Reyer Gerlagh & Veronica Lupi & Marzio Galeotti, 2023. "Fertility and climate change," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 125(1), pages 208-252, January.
    18. Fitzenberger, Bernd & Seidlitz, Arnim, 2024. "Changing Fertility and Heterogeneous Motherhood Effects: Revisiting the Effects of a Parental Benefits Reform," IZA Discussion Papers 16966, IZA Network @ LISER.
    19. Alessandra Casarico & Salvatore Lattanzio, 2023. "Behind the child penalty: understanding what contributes to the labour market costs of motherhood," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(3), pages 1489-1511, July.
    20. Céline Piton, 2022. "The labour market performance of vulnerable groups: towards a better understanding of the main driving forces," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/352519, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ces:epofor:v:26:y:2025:i:03:p:58-61. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Klaus Wohlrabe (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cesifde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.