Empowered Young Women: Trade Liberalization and Women's Family Decisions in China

Difei Ouyang (), Weidi Yuan () and Yuan Zi ()
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Difei Ouyang: School of International Trade and Economics, University of International Business and Economics
Weidi Yuan: Nanjing University and University of Geneva
Yuan Zi: Geneva Graduate Institute and University of Oslo and CEPR, https://www.graduateinstitute.ch/international-economics-presentation

No 28-2026, IHEID Working Papers from Economics Section, The Graduate Institute of International Studies

Abstract: This paper studies how trade affects women's marriage and fertility decisions in China. Exploiting regional variation in the exposure to the U.S. granting of Permanent Normal Trade Relations, we find that more exposed Chinese prefectures experience relative increases in the fraction of unmarried young women and women without children. These shifts in family decisions coincide with a trade-induced increase in female workforce participation and reallocation of women relative to men to the service sector, where wages are higher. Additionally, women in more exposed areas experience greater gender empowerment, as measured by their attitudes toward work, family, and gender equality.

Keywords: trade liberalization; gender inequality; family decisions; Chinese economy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F16 J12 J13 J16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 65 pages
Date: 2026-09-18
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