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Do Exporters Import Gender Inequality?

Lark, Olga LU and Videnord, Josefin (2023) In Working Papers p.1-41
Abstract
We examine whether exposure to gender inequality at export destinations affects the gender wage gap in exporting firms. We motivate the analysis through a stylized model where wages depend on worker productivity, and men have a comparative advantage when trading with gender-unequal countries due to customer discrimination. Empirically, we use high-quality matched employer-employee data from Sweden and calculate how exposed firms are to country-level gender inequality through their export destinations. Although increased export intensity on average leads to a wider within-firm gender wage gap, the effect is entirely driven by trade with gender-unequal countries; we find no impact on the gender wage gap when firms increase their exports to... (More)
We examine whether exposure to gender inequality at export destinations affects the gender wage gap in exporting firms. We motivate the analysis through a stylized model where wages depend on worker productivity, and men have a comparative advantage when trading with gender-unequal countries due to customer discrimination. Empirically, we use high-quality matched employer-employee data from Sweden and calculate how exposed firms are to country-level gender inequality through their export destinations. Although increased export intensity on average leads to a wider within-firm gender wage gap, the effect is entirely driven by trade with gender-unequal countries; we find no impact on the gender wage gap when firms increase their exports to countries with gender-equality levels close to that of Sweden. Female managers, who are most likely to interact with foreign customers, experience the most pronounced negative relative wage effects. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Working paper/Preprint
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Export, International trade, Gender wage gap, Gender inequality, Customer discrimination, Gender inequality index, J16, J31, F14, F16, F66
in
Working Papers
issue
2023:6
pages
1 - 41
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
bfb2455a-e4c6-46cf-ac80-399d76225664
date added to LUP
2023-05-08 09:33:25
date last changed
2024-03-08 14:52:19
@misc{bfb2455a-e4c6-46cf-ac80-399d76225664,
  abstract     = {{We examine whether exposure to gender inequality at export destinations affects the gender wage gap in exporting firms. We motivate the analysis through a stylized model where wages depend on worker productivity, and men have a comparative advantage when trading with gender-unequal countries due to customer discrimination. Empirically, we use high-quality matched employer-employee data from Sweden and calculate how exposed firms are to country-level gender inequality through their export destinations. Although increased export intensity on average leads to a wider within-firm gender wage gap, the effect is entirely driven by trade with gender-unequal countries; we find no impact on the gender wage gap when firms increase their exports to countries with gender-equality levels close to that of Sweden. Female managers, who are most likely to interact with foreign customers, experience the most pronounced negative relative wage effects.}},
  author       = {{Lark, Olga and Videnord, Josefin}},
  keywords     = {{Export; International trade; Gender wage gap; Gender inequality; Customer discrimination; Gender inequality index; J16; J31; F14; F16; F66}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Working Paper}},
  number       = {{2023:6}},
  pages        = {{1--41}},
  series       = {{Working Papers}},
  title        = {{Do Exporters Import Gender Inequality?}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/173496731/WP23_6.pdf}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}