• Impact of trade liberalisation

Gender impact of trade liberalisation

Emphasis on market-friendly macroeconomic and development strategies in recent years has resulted in deleterious effects on growth and well-being, and has done little to promote greater gender equality. This paper finds that while Asian growth was rapid, it was not enough to produce greater gender equality. Women’s concentration in mobile export industries that face severe competition from other low-wage countries reduces their bargaining power and inhibits closure of gender wage gaps.

The paper states that well-being of women in developing countries relies in part on reforming the austerity policies that have influenced macroeconomic policies in developed countries. These policies have also had negative effects on women in developed economies, circumscribing access to employment and wages, and contributing to too little funding for public goods. There are therefore common concerns amongst women in the global north and south in a number of areas, including capital controls, alternative roles for central banks, limited firm mobility, and labour standards.

The author points out that gender-equitable macroeconomic and development policies are required in four critical areas:

• expansionary macroeconomic policy
• financial market regulation
• regulation of trade and investment flows
• gender-sensitive public sector spending

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