Trade-related jobs are better paid, more productive, and more likely to be in the formal sector than jobs involved in producing goods and services for the domestic market. However, women are less likely to work in trade-related jobs, both in jobs that produce goods and services that are exported and those that produce goods and services that are inputs into export processes. High-skilled women are particularly unlikely to work in export-oriented jobs. These gender gaps have changed little over time
Trade and Gender Review of Latin America
2. Women workers
Copy link to 2. Women workersAbstract
Trade-related jobs are better paid, more productive, and more likely to be in the formal sector than jobs involved in producing goods and services for the domestic market. A number of studies have shown that trade improves women’s role in the labour market, reduces occupational segregation, promotes a move toward more formal jobs and lowers gender wage gaps in Latin American countries (World Bank and World Trade Organisation, 2020[1]; Ernesto Aguayo-Tellez, 2010[2]; Connolly, 2022[3]; Gaddis, 2017[4]; Ederington, 2024[5]; Heckl, 2024[6]) although some studies indicate that impacts depend on the country of origin of imports and level of workers’ education (Paz, 2021[7]) and others differ in their conclusions about impacts on the levels of male and female employment and changes over time (Hani Mansour, 2022[8]).1 Ensuring that women can access jobs that allow them to engage in international markets brings women benefit from the gains from trade and allows them to take advantage of additional professional opportunities.
This chapter uses the OECD’s Trade in Employment (TiM) by Characteristics database to analyse the extent to which women are engaged in trade through their employment, and potential factors that influence their engagement in trade, in the seven Latin America covered in this Review. Methodology and details on the dataset are presented in Box 2.1.
Box 2.1. Methodology and data
Copy link to Box 2.1. Methodology and dataThis analysis uses data from the Trade in employment (TiM) by characteristics database from 2010 to 2020. This analysis should be considered as a structural analysis rather than a snapshot of the present situation.
The TiM database is derived from the Trade in Value Added (TiVA) indicators, which capture the value added created by each country in the production of goods and services. This provides insights into GVCs that are not possible with conventional gross trade statistics. TiVA data are estimated using Inter-Country Input-Output (ICIO) tables that show flows of final and intermediate goods and services by industry.
The Trade in Employment data combines TiVA with employment data by industrial activity. It estimates the share of employment that is sustained by exporting activities and shows to what extent a country’s labour force is dependent on its international integration. Additionally, the TiM by Characteristics database adds the dimension of workers’ characteristics. These characteristics include gender, age (divided into three categories: ages between 15-29, 30-49, and 50+), skills level based on occupation (three categories: high-, medium- and low-skilled), and skills level based on education (three categories: high-, medium- and low-skilled).
This analysis uses the indicator “domestic employment embodied in gross exports” as it provides a comprehensive picture of employment by sector, by characteristic, and corresponding engagement in direct and indirect trade.
Source: Horvat, Webb and Yamano (2020[9]).
2.1. Employment in export-oriented jobs by gender
Copy link to 2.1. Employment in export-oriented jobs by genderIn all seven Latin American countries, women are less likely to work in export-dependent jobs than men, both as regards direct exports and indirect exports (Figure 2.1).2 This is also true for OECD Member countries overall: women are less engaged in export-dependent jobs than their male counterparts. In Argentina, and Brazil, women are approximately 40% less likely to be engaged in export-dependent jobs than men.3 In Colombia and Chile, women are between one-quarter and one-third less likely to be engaged in export-dependent jobs. In Costa Rica, Mexico,4 and Peru, the gender difference in the likelihood of participating in export-dependent jobs is smaller, with women being less than 20% less likely than men to hold these positions. In terms of overall engagement in trade, Costa Rica shows the highest shares of employment dependent on exports followed by Mexico and Chile. As a smaller, outward-looking economy, Costa Rica has more people employed in direct and indirect exports — both women and men — than other countries in the sample. Costa Ricans are also more likely to work in export-oriented jobs than workers on average in the OECD.
Conversely, Colombia shows the lowest levels of export-oriented employment. This could be explained by the country’s relatively lower levels of trade and trade openness. Colombian exports are below average for Latin American countries and Colombia’s trade barriers remain high. Moreover, the use of non-tariff barriers has grown (OECD, 2022[10]). More recently, the situation in Venezuela, traditionally one of the country’s main trading partners, has had a significant negative impact on Colombia’s exports.
In Chile, women’s employment in direct exports is relatively lower than for some of its neighbours and is lower than the OECD average. This is partly due to its large share of exports of minerals, a male-dominated sector (although mining is a highly capital-intensive sector, employing fewer people than many other export sectors). Similar to the findings for Chile, Brazilian exporting firms in agriculture, mining and resources sectors employ fewer women (Ministério da Indústria Comércio Exterior e Serviços, 2023[11]).
Both in the Latin American average and in the OECD, distribution services employ a large number of workers engaged in exports (Figure 2.2).5 Most other services sectors employ many fewer workers that are engaged in exports. In Chile, the main export sectors — distribution, materials, and other manufacturing — employ more men than women. Colombia presents a similar pattern as Chile, but with relatively fewer workers engaged in export overall. Costa Rica, with high levels of employment embodied in gross exports, presents noticeable gender gaps in export-intensive sectors like agriculture and other manufacturing sectors. Similarly, Argentina and Brazil present noticeable gender gaps in export-dependent employment mainly in agriculture, other manufacturing and distribution.
Mexico’s and Peru’s relatively small gender gaps in export-oriented employment seen in Figure 2.1 are due to the industry composition of exports that employ the most workers, i.e. manufacturing sectors and distribution (Annex 2.A) being very gender balanced (Figure 2.2).
In general, however, the gender export gap is wide in the main goods export sectors, in particular agriculture and manufacturing. This is the case for the most part in the seven Latin American countries, and has been shown to be the case in many OECD Member countries (see, for example, Korinek, Moïsé and Tange (2021[12]) OECD (2022[13]).
Figure 2.1. Employment embodied in exports is male dominated
Copy link to Figure 2.1. Employment embodied in exports is male dominated
Note: Domestic employment embodied in gross exports (2019).
Source: OECD Trade in Employment (TiM) by characteristics.
Figure 2.2. Many export-intensive industries are male dominated
Copy link to Figure 2.2. Many export-intensive industries are male dominated
Note: Domestic employment embodied in gross exports by industry average of the seven Latin American countries (2019). OECD averages are represented by the orange figures. W denominates women and M, men. Other manufacturing includes food, textile, and wood products; Distribution includes distributive trade, transport, accommodation, and food services; Public services include public administration, defense, education, and health; Other services include art, entertainment, personal services, activities as households as employers and activities of households for own use. A more detailed description of each industry is available in Annex Table 2.A.1.
Source: OECD Trade in employment (TiM) by characteristic.
Exploring the relationship between women’s participation in employment and the export-intensive nature of industries suggests that sectoral segregation, i.e. women and men working in different sectors, explains much of the gender gap in export-oriented employment (Figure 2.3). Sectors where women make up a strong share of the employed are generally sectors where gross exports are less. In Brazil, Chile and Mexico, export-oriented employment is lower compared with jobs that produce goods and services for the domestic sector, regardless of the percentage of women in the sector. This is in part due to the size of those economies as their businesses may find sufficient economies of scale without entering onto export markets.
Figure 2.3. Female intensive industries are not export-intensive
Copy link to Figure 2.3. Female intensive industries are not export-intensive
Note: Female share in employment and employment export intensity in 2019. Other manufacturing includes food, textile, and wood products; Distribution includes distributive trade, transport, accommodation, and food services; Public services include public administration, defense, education, and health; Other services include art, entertainment, personal services, activities as households as employers and activities of households for own use. A more detailed description of each industry is available in Annex Table 2.A.1.
Source: OECD Trade in employment (TiM) by characteristics
2.2. Have gender gaps in export-oriented jobs changed over time?
Copy link to 2.2. Have gender gaps in export-oriented jobs changed over time?In Brazil, and Mexico, employment embodied in exports has increased slowly between 2010 and 2019 for both men and women (Figure 2.4). In Costa Rica and Peru, only employment directly embodied in gross exports increased over the years. Costa Rica’s increase in export-oriented employment can be attributed mainly to changes in the machinery sector. The wider policy context also helps to explain these trends: Costa Rica’s effective growth has been based largely on open trade and foreign direct investment (OECD, 2023[14]). Costa Rica has been engaged since the 1980s in a structural transformation from an agriculturally based economy to a more diversified economy that is increasingly integrated into GVCs (OECD, 2018[15]). In Chile the share of employment embodied in exports decreased over the period. Argentina shows a U-shape development, where employment in exports decreased until 2015 and then recovered almost reaching 2010 levels.
In Chile, employment in gross exports has decreased, mainly arising from considerable decreases in the machinery and materials sectors. The collapse of international commerce that followed the 2008 global financial crisis and the drop in commodity prices over the period under review severely affected exports of mining and manufactured goods. Productivity in the mining sector was furthermore negatively impacted by greater extraction costs due to lower ore grades. Many industries were impacted by decreased multifactor productivity growth and a fall in external demand (OECD, 2018[16]). Higher commodity prices in recent periods may somewhat reverse this trend.
Gender gaps have remained remarkably similar over the ten-year period and in all countries, in both direct and indirect export-oriented employment. In Brazil, Chile and Costa Rica, gender gaps in direct export employment are wider than those for indirect exports. This may also be largely explained by occupational segregation, i.e. women working in services that are much more likely to be inputs into direct exports, and less likely to be engaged in heavily exported sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing.
Figure 2.4. Domestic employment embodied in gross exports over time
Copy link to Figure 2.4. Domestic employment embodied in gross exports over time
Note: Evolution of domestic employment embodied in gross exports.
Source: OECD Trade in employment (TiM) by characteristic.
Gender gaps in export employment have been the highest in Chile and Costa Rica over the years, with percentages above the OECD average, while Brazil and Argentina have also shown high percentages in recent years (Figure 2.5). Gender gaps in export employment are lowest in Mexico and Peru, followed by Colombia, when examining both direct and indirect employment. Even though Argentina and Costa Rica experienced a decrease in gender gaps in employment supported by exports, the gap widened again by the end of the decade. Meanwhile, the other countries under review did not significantly narrow their gender gaps.
Changes in the shares of female employment embodied in exports can be decomposed into employment export intensity (a change in the share of employees engaged in exports in a specific industry) and female intensity (a change in the number of female employees who were reallocated from domestic sectors to work in export-oriented sectors). Changes in women’s participation in export-oriented jobs have occurred mainly due to an increase in employment export intensity, i.e. more workers engaged in exports, rather than a reallocation of women toward export sectors (Figure 2.6). However, there are some exceptions where there has been a clear reallocation of female workers into exporting sectors, such as the agriculture, other manufacturing and materials in Chile or machinery and communications in Costa Rica.
Figure 2.5. Evolution of gender gap in employment embodied in gross exports
Copy link to Figure 2.5. Evolution of gender gap in employment embodied in gross exports
Note: Gender gap refers to the total gender gap which combined direct and indirect employment. This is computed by taking the difference between: the sum of male direct and indirect employment divided by the total male employment and the sum of female direct and indirect employment divided by the total female employment for each year between 2010 and 2020.
Source: OECD Trade in employment (TiM) by characteristic.
Figure 2.6. Changes in female employment in exports are driven by export intensity changes
Copy link to Figure 2.6. Changes in female employment in exports are driven by export intensity changes
Note: Change of direct female employment embodied in gross exports as an average of the seven Latin American countries (2010-2019). ‘Real change’ refers to the percentage change of female employment embodied in gross exports from 2010 to 2019. This change is composed of ‘change female intensity’, which is the percentage change of female workers in each sector, and ‘Change employment export intensity’, which refers to the percentage change in employment embodied in gross exports in each sector. Other manufacturing includes food, textile, and wood products; Distribution includes distributive trade, transport, accommodation, and food services; Public services include public administration, defense, education, and health; Other services include art, entertainment, personal services, activities as households as employers and activities of households for own use. A more detailed description of each industry is available in Annex Table 2.A.1.
Source: OECD Trade in employment (TiM) by characteristics combined with Trade in Value Added (TiVA).
2.3. Skills, employment and trade
Copy link to 2.3. Skills, employment and tradeSkills levels are a strong determinant of employment opportunities, wages and job quality. Since trade-related jobs are generally better paid and require higher productivity, skills—here proxied by educational attainment—are of potential significance.6 Overall, the seven countries analysed present a pattern of high shares of low-skilled workers in the primary sector (agriculture), high percentages of medium-skilled workers in the secondary sector (industries related to manufacturing), and high percentages of high-skilled workers in the tertiary sector (industries related to services) with the exception of distribution services that are medium-skills intensive (Annex Figure 2.A.1).
Women are mainly employed in sectors related to services, which are dominated by high-skilled workers. Therefore, the share of female employment is positively correlated with the share of high-skilled employment (Figure 2.7). However, this relationship is mainly true for public services, which have a high share of both high-skilled workers and female workers. The highly skilled sectors where women work, such as public services, health and education, are generally less traded.
Figure 2.7. Female share of total employment and share of high-skilled workers
Copy link to Figure 2.7. Female share of total employment and share of high-skilled workers
Note: Female share in employment and high skilled employment in 2019. Colours represent industries and shapes represent countries. Other manufacturing includes food, textiles and wood products; distribution includes wholesale and retail trade, transport, accommodation, and food services; public services include public administration, defense, education, and health; other services include art, entertainment, personal services, activities of households as employers and activities of households for own use. A more detailed description of each industry is available in Annex Table 2.A.1.
Source: OECD Trade in employment (TiM) by characteristic.
In general, there is a negative correlation between the share of high skilled workers in a given sector and the share of employment engaged in gross exports in that sector (Figure 2.8). This illustrates that the most high-skill intensive sectors, as seen above mostly services sectors, employ fewer workers in export-oriented jobs. It is important to note that there is an outlier in Figure 2.7: the ‘other services’ category. “Other services” has low shares of high-skilled workers, but high shares of female employment. These services include personal care, pet care, and child, elder care, art, entertainment, activities of households as employers and activities of households for their own use. These services, besides being rarely traded, are often public-facing, which increased the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women.
Some evidence drawn from the Chile-Mexico FTA suggests that the implementation of the FTA increased women’s employment in highly skilled jobs by 8.8% and increased labour and overall productivity (by 2.6% and 5.7% respectively) (Banerjee, Castro Penarrieta and Chakraborty, 2022[17]). This suggests a potential increase in demand for skilled labour due to increased trade that was filled by skilled female workers.
Figure 2.8. Share of high-skilled workers and export intensity of employment
Copy link to Figure 2.8. Share of high-skilled workers and export intensity of employment
Note: Employment export intensity and high skilled employment in 2019. Other manufacturing includes food, textile, and wood products; distribution includes wholesale and retail trade, transport, accommodation, and food services; public services include public administration, defense, education, and health; other services include art, entertainment, personal services, activities as households as employers and activities of households for own use. A more detailed description of each industry is available in Annex Table 2.A.1.
Source: OECD Trade in employment (TiM) by characteristics combined with Trade in Value Added (TiVA).
2.4. Women at work: Regulatory context and societal norms
Copy link to 2.4. Women at work: Regulatory context and societal normsThe regulatory context in which women work, as well as societal norms, impact their ability to participate fully in the labour force and in higher-paid employment such as trade-related jobs. Regulations that particularly impact women’s ability to compete in labour markets include explicit requirements of equal pay for equal work, enforced sexual harassment legislation, and barriers to women’s participation in certain professions and workplaces. In Colombia and Mexico, there is no explicit legislation that requires firms to apply equal pay for equal work (World Bank, 2023[18]). Gender-pay gaps mean that women have less access to resources and therefore less opportunity to start their own business (Section 2.4). They also mean that women tend to be closer to the poverty line than men (Section 2.3).
In Argentina and Colombia there are no civil or criminal penalties for sexual harassment in the workplace (World Bank, 2023[18]). This suggests women may be more vulnerable to such behaviours in those countries and have less recourse in the case of sexual harassment.
In Argentina, women are not allowed to work in certain professions. These include loading and unloading of ships; working in quarries or underground works; loading or unloading by cranes or winches; and working as machinists.7 This is particularly relevant as Argentina signed the WTO Joint Initiative on Domestic Services Regulation which includes a provision on non-discrimination between men and women services suppliers and some of those professions would be classified as services.
It should be noted that measures have been taken in some Latin American countries recently that represent a positive evolution to protect and support women in the workplace. For example, on 3 July 2023 in Brazil, Law No. 14,611 was published and provides for equal pay between women and men for carrying out work of equal value or performing the same function. The law defines new mechanisms for salary transparency and supervision, in addition to increasing penalties for companies that fail to comply with the rules. In Chile, the Ley Karin entered into force on 1 August 2024 that outlaws sexual harassment in the workplace.
Peru’s employment legislation is one of the most gender-equal of the seven Latin American countries under review. In Peru, discrimination in employment on the basis of gender is unlawful, as is dismissal of pregnant workers. Peru’s legislation mandates equal pay for work of equal value and prohibits sexual harassment in employment with penalties for non-compliance. Peru’s legislation prohibits discrimination in access to credit based on gender, and women and men have similar rights in registering a business, signing a contract and opening a bank account. Women and men have equal ownership rights to immovable property and equal rights to inherit assets (World Bank, 2023[18]). Moreover, a mandatory paid paternity leave of ten days is in force, which can be extended to 30 days in special health cases.
Women’s ability to lead and thrive in the workplace is also hampered by societal norms, values and perceptions, including those held by women themselves. According to the most recent World Values Survey (Haerpfer et al., 2022[19]),8 two out of ten people in Mexico say men are better executives solely because of their gender. Twenty-eight per cent (28%) of Chileans say that when there is a labour shortage, men should have a greater right to a job compared to 5% of people in the United States, 12% of Argentinians, 19% of Brazilians, 25% of Mexicans and 26% of Peruvians. Over half of Mexicans and Brazilians consider that when a mother has a paid job, her children suffer, compared with 48% of Chileans, 44% of Peruvians and 20% of people in the United States. Over half of Mexicans think that if a woman earns more money than her husband, this is almost certain to cause problems, compared to 36% of Brazilians, 35% of Chileans, 26% of Peruvians, 18% of Argentinians and 9% of people in the United States. One in five Mexicans say it is more important for a man than for a woman to have a university degree, double the response rates in the United States and Brazil. Moreover, many of these perceptions have not diminished since a similar survey in 2012, and some have increased.
One type of social norm that blocks women for engaging in paid work is the amount of unpaid work they do, including domestic work and caring for children and elders. In many Latin American countries, women do at least twice the amount of unpaid work than men do (Figure 2.9). When women are engaged in a substantially large proportion of unpaid work, they have fewer hours to engage in paid work, look for a job, and expand their networks in order to increase future job prospects.
Figure 2.9. Paid and unpaid work by women and men
Copy link to Figure 2.9. Paid and unpaid work by women and men15 years and older, weekly hours
Source: ECLAC, Gender Equality Observatory for Latin America and the Caribbean (https://oig.cepal.org/es).
2.5. Informality
Copy link to 2.5. InformalityIt should be noted that the preceding analysis refers specifically to jobs in the formal sector whereas many jobs in Latin America are situated in the informal economy.9 The ILO estimates that since 2020, four out of every five jobs created for women and two out of every three jobs for men have been situated within the informal economy.10 A 2022 survey in Mexico found that out of the 57 million people that are part of the workforce, 44% work in the formal sector, while the remaining 56% work in the informal economy in Mexico. Informal work seems to be similarly distributed between women and men with 56% of women (approximately 13 million) working in the informal economy and 44% (around 10 million) in the formal economy.11 In Peru, close to 75% of women and 65% of men are estimated to work in the informal economy (PromPerú, 2023[20]). In Colombia, a survey found that 49% of informal workers are women.12 Figures are similar or higher in many other Latin American countries. Given the informal economy’s sheer magnitude and central role in the functioning of these economies, it is likely that informality plays an important role in shaping the aggregate and distributional effects of trade.
Women working in the informal economy earn less, work in poorer conditions without safety nets, and may face heightened levels of violence, harassment, and discrimination. In Peru for example where 95% of domestic workers are women, less than 5% are covered by unemployment benefits and over 85% are not enrolled in pension systems. Migrant women, including many Venezuelan refugees, face heightened risks due to their marginalised status and limited access to social protection, increasing their vulnerability to exploitation and abuse.13 The situation is equally dire for indigenous women in rural areas, especially in the Amazon, where barriers to healthcare access, language challenges, and inadequate infrastructure exacerbate their vulnerability.14
The informal economy has received little attention in theoretical and empirical studies of international trade however past research has highlighted the importance of labour and other regulations in driving the size of the informal economy in Latin American countries (Heckmann and Pagés, 2000[21]). Moreover, as firms expand, they tend to formalise as they become more visible to the local authorities, leading to increased fines and threat of closure. Since trade requires extra (often outside) funding and requires firms to engage formally in administrative processes, both at the border and with their clients, e.g. issuing tax receipts to clients, firms that intend to trade tend to move toward formalisation. This can be a positive evolution for women working in those firms. The link between trade and formalisation will be further explored in the chapter on women business leaders.
References
[17] Banerjee, U., L. Castro Penarrieta and P. Chakraborty (2022), Can Trade Policy Change Gender Equality? Evidence from Chile, https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4106545.
[22] Becker, G. (1957), “The Economics of Discrimination”, The University of Chicago Press Economics, Vol. Second Edition.
[23] Black, S. (2004), “Importing equality? The impact of globalization on gender discrimination”, Industrial Labor Relations Review, Vol. 57/4, pp. 540-559.
[3] Connolly, L. (2022), “The effects of a trade shock on gender-specific labour market outcomes in Brazil”, Labour Economics, Vol. 74, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2021.102085.
[5] Ederington, J. (2024), “Trade and labor market segregation in Colombia”, Review of International Economics, pp. 1-26, https://doi.org/10.1111/roie.12744.
[2] Ernesto Aguayo-Tellez, J. (2010), Did Trade Liberalisation help Women? The case of Mexico in the 1990s, http://www.nber.org/papers/w16195.
[4] Gaddis, I. (2017), “The gendered labor market impacts of trade liberalization evidence from Brazil”, Journal of Human Resources, Vol. 52/2, pp. 457-490.
[19] Haerpfer, C. et al. (2022), World Values Survey Wave 7 (2017-2022), Cross-National Data Set, Version 4.0.0, World Values Association, https://doi.org/10.14281/18241.18.
[8] Hani Mansour, P. (2022), “Import competition and gender differences in labor reallocation”, Labour Economics, Vol. 76, https://doi.org/10.1257/jel.50.4.1051.
[6] Heckl, P. (2024), “Import Shocks and Gendered Labor Market Responses: Evidence from Mexico”, Labour Economics, Vol. 88, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2024.102536.
[21] Heckmann, J. and C. Pagés (2000), The Cost of Job Security Regulation: Evidence from Latin American Labor Markets, https://doi.org/10.3386/w7773.
[9] Horvát, P., C. Webb and N. Yamano (2020), “Measuring employment in global value chains”, OECD Science, Technology and Industry Working Papers, No. 2020/01, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/00f7d7db-en.
[12] Korinek, J., E. Moïsé and J. Tange (2021), Trade and Gender: A Framework of Analysis, OECD Publishing, https://doi.org/10.1787/6db59d80-en.
[11] Ministério da Indústria Comércio Exterior e Serviços (2023), Mulheres no Comércio Exterior: Uma Análise para o Brasil, https://www.gov.br/mdic/pt-br/assuntos/comercio-exterior/estatisticas/outras-estatisticas-de-comercio-exterior-1/mulheres_comercio_exterior_uma_analise_para_o_brasil.pdf.
[14] OECD (2023), OECD Economic Surveys: Costa Rica 2023, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/8e8171b0-en.
[10] OECD (2022), OECD Economic Surveys: Colombia 2022, OECD Publishing, https://doi.org/10.1787/04bf9377-en.
[13] OECD (2022), Trade and Gender Review of New Zealand, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/923576ea-en.
[16] OECD (2018), OECD Economic Surveys: Chile 2018, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/eco_surveys-chl-2018-en.
[15] OECD (2018), OECD Economic Surveys: Costa Rica 2018, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/eco_surveys-cri-2018-en.
[7] Paz, L. (2021), “The effects of Chinese imports on female workers in the Brazilian manufacturing sector”, Journal of Development Studies, Vol. 57/5, pp. 807-823.
[20] PromPerú (2023), Evaluación de Género en el sector exportador, https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14152/5865.
[18] World Bank (2023), Women, Business and the Law, World Bank, https://doi.org/10.1596/978-1-4648-1944-5.
[1] World Bank and World Trade Organisation (2020), Women and Trade: The Role of Trade in Promoting Women’s Equality, World Bank and World Trade Organisation, Washington D.C.
Annex 2.A. Services in trade and employment: Context in selected Latin American countries
Copy link to Annex 2.A. Services in trade and employment: Context in selected Latin American countriesAnnex Figure 2.A.1. Gross export levels of LAM countries, 2018
Copy link to Annex Figure 2.A.1. Gross export levels of LAM countries, 2018OECD Member countries and accession countries
Note: Gross export levels (2019). Other manufacturing includes food, textile, and wood products; Distribution includes distributive trade, transport, accommodation, and food services; Public services include public administration, defense, education, and health; Other services include art, entertainment, personal services, activities as households as employers and activities of households for own use. A more detailed description of each industry is available in Annex Table 2.A.1.
Source: Trade in Value Added (TiVA) OECD database.
Annex Figure 2.A.2. Distribution and services sectors are the biggest employers
Copy link to Annex Figure 2.A.2. Distribution and services sectors are the biggest employers
Note: Total employment by sector (2019). Other manufacturing includes food, textile, and wood products; distribution includes wholesale and retail trade, transport, accommodation, and food services; public services include public administration, defense, education, and health; other services include art, entertainment, personal services, activities as households as employers and activities of households for own use. A more detailed description of each industry is available in Annex Table 2.A.1.
Source: OECD Trade in employment (TiM) by characteristics combined with Trade in Value Added (TiVA).
Annex Table 2.A.1. Industry descriptions
Copy link to Annex Table 2.A.1. Industry descriptions|
ISIC code |
Industry |
Description |
|---|---|---|
|
D01T03 |
Agriculture |
Agriculture, hunting, forestry, and fishing |
|
D10T33X |
Other manufacturing |
Food, textile, and wood products |
|
D19T25 |
Materials |
Material manufacturing |
|
D26T30 |
Machinery |
Machinery and equipment |
|
D45T56 |
Distribution |
Distributive trade, transport, accommodation, and food services |
|
D58T63 |
Communication |
Information and communication |
|
D64T66 |
Finance |
Finance and insurance activities |
|
D68T82 |
Real estate |
Real state, renting and business activities |
|
D84T88 |
Public services |
Public administration, defense, education, and health |
|
D90T98 |
Other services |
Art, entertainment, personal services, activities as households as employers and activities of households for own use |
Note: Industries classification used in the TiM by characteristic database.
Source: OECD Trade in employment (TiM) by characteristics combined with Trade in Value Added (TiVA).
Annex Figure 2.A.3. Education level of employees by industry
Copy link to Annex Figure 2.A.3. Education level of employees by industry
Note: Education levels by industry (2019). Other manufacturing includes food, textile, and wood products; distribution includes wholesale and retail trade, transport, accommodation, and food services; public services include public administration, defense, education, and health; other services include art, entertainment, personal services, activities as households as employers and activities of households for own use. A more detailed description of each industry is available in Annex Table 2.A.1.
Source: OECD Trade in employment (TiM) by characteristics combined with Trade in Value Added (TiVA).
Notes
Copy link to Notes← 1. There are a number of reasons to expect trade to have gender-specific effects: i) trade increases the level of competition domestic firms face, which theoretically reduces firms’ ability to discriminate in hiring practices (Becker, 1957[22]) (Black, 2004[23]); ii) trade can induce technical change and upgrades in technology may increase the substitutability of female and male workers, in particular if less physical strength is required; iii) globalisation induces a reallocation of productive factors and if women and men workers are not perfect substitutes, or work in different sectors and jobs, this will impact them differently.
← 2. Direct employment embodied in gross exports refers to the employment in a specific industry that works on the production of goods and services exported by that same industry. Indirect employment embodied in gross exports refers to the employees who work in upstream industries that contribute to other industries where the final product is then exported. For example, if an exporting firm in the machinery sector hires the services of an IT firm, a worker on the IT firm belongs to the indirect employment embodied in the exports of the machinery industry.
← 3. These findings are similar to those found for Brazil in a study using an alternative methodology, where women’s participation in trade-related jobs is lower than their overall participation in the labour market: 29% of jobs in Brazilian firms that export are filled by women, compared to women’s labour force participation of 40% (Ministério da Indústria Comércio Exterior e Serviços, 2023[11]).
← 4. A study of the impacts of NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) found that it benefitted women in export-oriented employment. Sectors where women traditionally work expanded due to greater exports, and greater trade increased demand for skilled workers, particularly women. Moreover, implementation of the trade agreement was found to reduce gender wage gaps (Ernesto Aguayo-Tellez, 2010[2])
← 5. Distribution services include wholesale and retail trade, transport, accommodation and food services.
← 6. In the TiM by characteristics database, skills based on the education attained by workers are classified into three categories: low-skilled workers refer to those who have attained less than primary, primary, and lower secondary education; medium-skilled workers refer to those who have attained upper secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary education; and high-skilled workers refer to those who have attained tertiary education (ISCED-Classification 2011).
← 7. Capitulo II of Ley no. 11.317 trabajo de las mujeres y los niños, http://servicios.infoleg.gob.ar/infolegInternet/anexos/190000-194999/194070/norma.htm.
← 8. Data for most Latin American countries refer to 2018.
← 9. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), informal economy is defined as ‘economic activity by workers or economic units that are – in law or practice – not covered or insufficiently covered by formal arrangements’ (WEF Global Gender Gap Report, 2023).
← 10. World Economic Forum, ‘Global Gender Gap Report 2023.’ (20 June 2023). https://www.weforum.org/publications/global-gender-gap-report-2023/in-full/gender-gaps-in-the-workforce/, accessed 11 February 2024.
← 11. Liliana Ruiz and Paola Pereznieto, ‘Women in formal and informal labour markets in Mexico.’ (2022), Work and Opportunities for Women (WOW), https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/63da97548fa8f5188353833d/Query-70-Women-Informal-mexico.pdf, Accessed 9 February 2024.
← 12. Angélica María Cossio Téllez, ‘Women have more disadvantages than men in informal work scenarios.’ (2021) Periódico Universidad Nacional de Colombia (UNAL), https://periodico.unal.edu.co/articulos/women-have-more-disadvantages-than-men-in-informal-work-scenarios/.
← 13. Enrique Gómez Ramírez with Cecilia Handeland Members' Research Service, ‘The informal economy and coronavirus in Latin America.’ (2021) European Parliamentary Research Service. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2021/690587/EPRS_BRI(2021)690587_EN.pdf, accessed 13 February 2024.
← 14. Enrique Gómez Ramírez with Cecilia Handeland Members' Research Service, ‘The informal economy and coronavirus in Latin America.’ (2021) European Parliamentary Research Service, 7 https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2021/690587/EPRS_BRI(2021)690587_EN.pdf, accessed 13 February 2024.