IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/upj/weupjo/17-270.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

NAFTA and the Gender Wage Gap

Author

Listed:
  • Shushanik Hakobyan

    (Fordham University)

  • John McLaren

    (University of Virginia)

Abstract

Using U.S. Census data for 1990–2000, we estimate effects of NAFTA on U.S. wages, focusing on differences by gender. We find that NAFTA tariff reductions are associated with substantially reduced wage growth for married blue-collar women, much larger than the effect for other demographic groups. We investigate several possible explanations for this finding. It is not explained by differential sensitivity of female-dominated occupations to trade shocks, or by household bargaining that makes married female workers less able to change their industry of employment than other workers. We find some support for an explanation based on an equilibrium theory of selective non-participation in the labor market, whereby some of the higher-wage married female workers in their industry drop out of the labor market in response to their industry’s loss of tariff. However, this does not fully explain the findings, so we are left with a puzzle.

Suggested Citation

  • Shushanik Hakobyan & John McLaren, 2017. "NAFTA and the Gender Wage Gap," Upjohn Working Papers 17-270, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:upj:weupjo:17-270
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://research.upjohn.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1288&context=up_workingpapers
    Download Restriction: This material is copyrighted. Permission is required to reproduce any or all parts.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    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. Arnaud Costinot & Jonathan Vogel, 2015. "Beyond Ricardo: Assignment Models in International Trade," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 7(1), pages 31-62, August.
    3. Cameron, A. Colin & Gelbach, Jonah B. & Miller, Douglas L., 2011. "Robust Inference With Multiway Clustering," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 29(2), pages 238-249.
    4. David H. Autor & David Dorn & Gordon H. Hanson, 2013. "The China Syndrome: Local Labor Market Effects of Import Competition in the United States," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(6), pages 2121-2168, October.
    5. 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.
    6. Browning, Martin & Francois Bourguignon & Pierre-Andre Chiappori & Valerie Lechene, 1994. "Income and Outcomes: A Structural Model of Intrahousehold Allocation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 102(6), pages 1067-1096, December.
    7. Isis Gaddis & Janneke Pieters, 2017. "The Gendered Labor Market Impacts of Trade Liberalization: Evidence from Brazil," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 52(2), pages 457-490.
    8. Elissaios Papyrakis & Arlette Covarrubias & Arjan Verschoor, 2012. "Gender and Trade Aspects of Labour Markets," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(1), pages 81-98, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Besedeš, Tibor & Lee, Seung Hoon & Yang, Tongyang, 2021. "Trade liberalization and gender gaps in local labor market outcomes: Dimensions of adjustment in the United States," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 574-588.
    2. Felipe Benguria & Josh Ederington, 2023. "Decomposing the effect of trade on the gender wage gap," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 56(3), pages 1082-1120, August.
    3. Brussevich, Masha, 2018. "Does trade liberalization narrow the gender wage gap? The role of sectoral mobility," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 305-333.

    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. Shushanik Hakobyan & John McLaren, 2018. "NAFTA and the Wages of Married Women," NBER Working Papers 24424, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Mansour, Hani & Medina, Pamela & Velásquez, Andrea, 2022. "Import competition and gender differences in labor reallocation," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    3. Sarra Ben Yahmed & Pamela Bombarda, 2020. "Gender, Informal Employment and Trade Liberalization in Mexico," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 34(2), pages 259-283.
    4. Ishan Ghosh & Mario Larch & Irina Murtazashvili & Yoto V. Yotov, 2022. "Negative Trade Shocks and Gender Inequality: Evidence from the USA," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 89(355), pages 564-591, July.
    5. Mansour, Hani & Medina, Pamela & Velasquez, Andrea, 2020. "Import Competition and Gender Differences in Labor Reallocation," IZA Discussion Papers 13608, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Hani Mansour & Pamela Medina & Andrea Velásquez, 2022. "Import Competition and Gender Differences in Labor Reallocation," CESifo Working Paper Series 9639, CESifo.
    7. Kozo Kiyota & Sawako Maruyama, 2018. "On the Demand for Female Workers in Japan: The Role of ICT and Offshoring," Asian Economic Papers, MIT Press, vol. 17(2), pages 25-46, Summer.
    8. Besedeš, Tibor & Lee, Seung Hoon & Yang, Tongyang, 2021. "Trade liberalization and gender gaps in local labor market outcomes: Dimensions of adjustment in the United States," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 574-588.
    9. Bezerra De Goes,Carlos Andre & Lopez-Acevedo,Gladys C. & Robertson,Raymond, 2023. "Gender-Segmented Labor Markets and Trade Shocks," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10518, The World Bank.
    10. Dix-Carneiro, Rafael & Kovak, Brian K., 2023. "Globalization and Inequality in Latin America," IZA Discussion Papers 16363, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Felipe Benguria & Josh Ederington, 2023. "Decomposing the effect of trade on the gender wage gap," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 56(3), pages 1082-1120, August.
    12. Mina Baliamoune-Lutz, 2020. "Trade and Women’s Wage Employment," Research papers & Policy papers 1908, Policy Center for the New South.
    13. Krisztina Kis-Katos & Janneke Pieters & Robert Sparrow, 2018. "Globalization and Social Change: Gender-Specific Effects of Trade Liberalization in Indonesia," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 66(4), pages 763-793, December.
    14. Klasen, Stephan, 2020. "From ‘MeToo’ to Boko Haram: A survey of levels and trends of gender inequality in the world," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    15. SASAHARA Akira & MORI Hiroaki, 2021. "The Effects of Trade on the Gender Gaps: A Model-based Quantitative Investigation," Discussion papers 21076, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    16. Vo, Thang T. & Ha, Truong Thiet, 2021. "Decomposition of gender bias in enterprise employment: Insights from Vietnam," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 182-194.
    17. Brussevich, Masha, 2018. "Does trade liberalization narrow the gender wage gap? The role of sectoral mobility," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 305-333.
    18. Connolly, Laura, 2022. "The effects of a trade shock on gender-specific labor market outcomes in Brazil," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    19. Kaveri Deb & William R. Hauk, 2020. "The Impact of Chinese Imports on Indian Wage Inequality," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 63(2), pages 267-290, June.
    20. L. Alan Winters & Antonio Martuscelli, 2014. "Trade Liberalization and Poverty: What Have We Learned in a Decade?," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 6(1), pages 493-512, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    NAFTA; gender wage gap; local labor markets;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F16 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Labor Market Interactions
    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:upj:weupjo:17-270. 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: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/upjohus.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.