The China trade shock and the gender wage gap in India: A District-level analysis

Kajari Saha ()
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Kajari Saha: Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research

Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai Working Papers from Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, India

Abstract: This study provides new evidence on the debate surrounding international trade and the gender wage gap in a developing country context. It asks whether increased competition from trade has any causal effect on the district-level gender wage gap in India. Changes in competition from trade are measured using changes in imports from China, owing to the dramatic rise in Chinese imports into India in recent years. An instrumental variable (IV) based estimation strategy is used following Autor, Dorn, and anson (2016), to delineate causality. Results indicate a positive and statistically significant impact of an increase in Chinese imports on the gender wage gap over time. In addition to the economy-wide ample of workers, this effect holds true for the sub-samples of casual laborers and rural sector workers where the majority of women workers in India are concentrated. Unlike previous studies using industry-level data, the district-level focus of this study allows us to capture micro-level effects, as well as the net effects of trade in the surrounding district.

Keywords: International trade; Gender wage gap; Competition; Imports; China; District (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D63 F16 J16 J31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 38 pages
Date: 2021-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cwa, nep-dev, nep-gen, nep-int and nep-lma
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ind:igiwpp:2021-012

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