Export Orientation of the Economy and Women’s Empowerment: Empirical Evidence from India
This study is an attempt to analyze the relationship between women’s empowerment and export share (ES) in state domestic product, the measure of the export orientation of state domestic product. The study basically examines whether export oriented change in the production structure can bring changes in the socio-economic condition of women in India.
This study shows that there is significant positive association between export share in state domestic product and the empowerment of women. The regression result indicates that the higher the share of exports in the economy, the higher is the empowerment of women. However, if you remove education from the gender development index, the effect of trade liberalization on gender development becomes insignificant, which indicates the crucial role of education in delivering holistic benefits from trade liberalization sector specific case studies conclude that employment opportunities have increased in export oriented sectors, especially for women workers. Average wages have improved. Sectoral analysis further indicates that integration into global markets does generate uncertainties for women but these may be outweighed by net economic gains and distributional effects. The macro indicators have demonstrated net welfare gains for women, but anecdotal evidence has also shown that global integration has had adverse consequence for women in several instances.
The paper analyses the impact of trade expansion on gender empowerment in India. It considers women’s employment in India
- in terms of rural/urban employment
- by state
- by sectoral distribution of women workforce in nine sectors (in which around 90% of Indian women are employed) over two time periods, 1993/4 and 1999/2000. The sectors are:
Through econometric analysis the study makes an attempt to analyze the relationship between women’s empowerment in a composite sense, and export share in state domestic product.
The following sectors are then discussed with empirical analysis at sectoral level:
- agriculture (and allied activities horticulture and fisheries),
- textile and garment industry,
- food processing industry,
- service sector and trade in services,
- IT sector,
- other services (hotels, education, healthcare)
Based on ‘Export Orientation of the Economy and Women’s Empowerment: Empirical Evidence from India’ by Dr. Veena Jha and Dr.Shahid Ahmed. Paper presented at Workshop on Gender in Global and Regional Trade Policy: Contrasting Views and New Research. University of Warwick, 5 – 7 April 2006
