EXTERNAL TRADE EFFECTS ON WOMAN EMPLOYMENT: THE CASE OF BRAZIL

Abstract

The traditional trade theory recognizes that the consequences of international trade differ according to social groups. An increasing literature emphasizes the effect of these phenomena in terms of gender. This, because of the impact of trade changes in terms of prices and quantities of goods but also of labor. The objective of this work is to analyze the effects of recent changes in the Brazilian external trade from a gender point of view, focusing on its impact on the feminine labor force. With this purpose, I calculate the feminine and masculine labor content of Brazilian trade. It takes into account not only the direct but also the indirect labor content and it also distinguishes labor force by qualification, which proxy is the years of schooling. The effects are estimated both for total and geographical disaggregated trade flows, in order to reveal differences among trade with different partners and also to demonstrate that trade agreements have different gender impacts. The results reflect the Brazilian trade specialization and the labor force intensity of the sectors. In terms of total labor force, Brazil appears as a net labor exporter, mainly of low qualification. The results for the feminine labor force are similar in some points: the balance in terms of jobs is positive and grew between 1995 and 2005. However, the number of feminine jobs associated to trade represents only 3.5% of the total female employment, which is less important than for men. Another important difference is that, following a characteristic of the work market in general, feminine jobs related to trade is relatively more qualified than the masculine ones.