Kinship Trade Politics: Family Ties and Labor Market Exposure to Globalization

• In Event: The Political Economy of Gender in Globalization Politics

Abstract

While previous studies of protectionist attitudes and voting emphasize an individual’s own labor market exposure, less attention has been paid to indirect exposure through one’s kin network. We use US Census micro-data to document significant heterogeneity in trade exposure between individuals in the same family. We then develop a theory where individuals' demand for protectionist policies and candidates depends on the labor market exposure of their close kin, especially their spouse, in addition to their own exposure. This kinship exposure arises from well-known risk-sharing behaviors between family members, and from family members’ selection into industries, occupations, and regions that face differential competition from global markets. The political effects of trade are magnified when voters share the same exposure as their kin. More commonly, however, the political effects are moderated when family members face countervailing exposure. To test this theory, we use the U.S. General Social Survey data (1998-2002) that identify the labor market characteristics of respondents' spouses and parents, which we then combine with an exogenous trade shock to these characteristics from NAFTA. We hypothesize that increased Mexican trade competition through one's kinship network increases the demand for protectionist policies and anti-trade populist candidates. We also evaluate to what extent kinship exposure explains the well-known gender gap in the demand for protectionism

Authors

• Soohyun Cho, Bowdoin College

• Thomas Michael Flaherty, Texas A&M University