Trading Up? The Impacts of Gender-Related Provisions in Trade Agreements

• In Event: Contemporary Issues in Trade Agreements

Abstract

The number of regional trade agreements (RTAs) that include gender-related provisions has increased dramatically in the two decades, and most of these are North-South agreements. The aim of these provisions is twofold: first, to ensure that the benefits of trade liberalization and other trade-related policies are distributed equally between men and women, and second, to advance gender equality. Little is yet known about the impacts that gender-related provisions actually have on women’s economic outcomes. In this paper, I analyze the 51 RTAs in force that explicitly reference women or gender-related issues. I evaluate whether and to what extent they have had measurable effects on several indicators of women’s economic empowerment: female labor force participation, the gender pay gap, sectoral segregation, and the number of women relative to men in management positions. The results of this research will make important contributions to our understanding of how well RTAs can advance gender equality as well as to our understanding of non-trade issues in trade agreements more broadly.

Author

• Mary Anne Madeira, Lehigh University