Job characteristics, job transitions and services trade

This report presents new cross-country evidence on labour market transitions in sectors exposed to growing volumes of international trade, and the job characteristics of workers employed in these sectors. It shows that export growth is significantly associated with lower job loss risk. In commercial services sectors, exports offer over-proportional employment opportunities to those currently outside the workforce. Men and women are not always impacted identically. For example, involuntary part time employment amongst women falls with growing export volumes, while there is no such effect for men. These results show that the distributional effects of international trade are not limited to wage effects or net changes in employment numbers and highlight the need for a comprehensive assessment of trade implications for individual workers.