Is Free Trade Good for Women? How Trade Agreements Affect Women’s Rights

• In Event: Authority & Authorities: The Gendered Dimensions of Policy Implementation

Abstract

The effect of trade liberalization on women’s rights has been hotly contested. Some argue that free trade has an adverse impact on women in developing countries by undermining public services, eroding social protection and deepening gender inequalities. Others claim that free trade generates economic growth, creates economic opportunities and has many positive spillover effects on women’s social and economic participation. We argue that the potentially negative effect of trade liberalization on women in the Global South can be offset by trade policies designed to reduce economic and social gender imbalances. Conditionality in North-South preferential trade agreements (PTAs) containing certain labor and human rights provisions, such as gender equality chapters and core labor standards, can lead to a race to the top in women’s rights protection in the developing world. We assess this claim empirically using statistical evidence drawn from the analysis of original data on PTAs and their gender clauses. Our study is the first to establish an empirical link between PTA design and women’s rights, suggesting new policies are needed to better balance economic globalization with social goals in the current protectionist era.

Authors

• Evgeny Postnikov, University of Melbourne

• Anne-Kathrin Kreft, University of Gothenburg