Making Trade Policies Gender-responsive: Data Requirements, Methodological Developments and Challenges

INTRODUTION

The introduction highlights the critical interplay between trade and gender, emphasizing that economic evaluations must consider gender roles and disparities. Gender bias, often detrimental to women, affects education, resource access, opportunities, and security. Trade impacts gender dynamics in two main ways: gender inequalities influence trade outcomes, and trade reforms affect the economic positions of men and women. For instance, the gender wage gap makes women less costly employees, while trade reforms can open markets for female entrepreneurs or harm women in female-intensive sectors if imports displace domestic production.

The impact of trade on gender extends beyond production and employment, affecting consumption, government budgets, and time use between paid and unpaid activities. Given these multifaceted impacts, it is crucial to mainstream gender considerations in public policies, including trade policies, to ensure equitable effects and promote inclusive development.

The gender effects of trade vary by country and context, necessitating case-by-case analysis. The UNCTAD (2017) developed the “Trade and Gender Toolbox,” a framework for ex-ante gender assessments of trade policies. This tool helps predict the gender impacts of trade policies and design measures to mitigate negative effects or reinforce positive ones. This methodology aligns with the broader trend of ex-ante impact assessments, like the European Commission’s Sustainability Impact Assessments (SIAs), which evaluate the potential impacts of trade agreements on economic, social, and environmental factors.

The “Trade and Gender Toolbox” specifically focuses on gender impacts and supports gender-responsive policymaking, contributing to inclusive development and women’s economic empowerment in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The paper outlines the methodology of the Toolbox, presents a case study on Kenya, and discusses future extensions for more comprehensive gender-trade analysis.

THE GENDER AND TRADE NEXUS

Trade and gender interact through various channels in the economy. Trade liberalization alters the relative prices of goods and services, impacting production structures and affecting women differently based on their roles as workers, producers, and consumers. Women in export-oriented sectors may gain employment, while those in import-competing sectors may lose out. As consumers, women benefit from cheaper imports but may face reduced public services if tariff revenues decline.

Economic theory suggests that trade liberalization benefits women workers in developing countries due to increased demand for low-skilled labor. However, this can lead to the feminization of labor, where women are segregated into low-paying jobs. Conversely, technological upgrades in middle-income countries can result in the defeminization of labor, reducing female employment in higher-skilled sectors.

Women’s capacity to benefit from trade depends on their access to resources and training. Female producers in agriculture and manufacturing face challenges like market access barriers and limited endowments. As consumers, women benefit from cheaper imports but are adversely affected by cuts in social spending. New indirect taxes to offset tariff losses often impact women more due to their spending patterns.

Gender inequalities, such as wage gaps and occupational segregation, influence trade outcomes by serving as cost-cutting strategies for firms. Promoting gender equality is crucial for equitable economic participation and development. Empowering women positively impacts education, family planning, and agriculture, thereby promoting broader social and economic development.

THE METHODOLOGY OF THE TRADE AND GENDER TOOLBOX

The Trade and Gender Toolbox uses a four-component approach to assess the impact of trade reforms on gender equality and women’s well-being.

1. Gender and Economy: Provides an economic overview of the country, examining women’s contributions and identifying gender inequalities through economic data and legal texts.
2. Estimation Results: Generates quantitative estimates of the economic impact of specific trade reforms, identifying sectors where gender employment inequalities might improve or worsen.
3. Monitoring Indicators: Offers a checklist and monitoring indicators to guide policymakers in designing gender-sensitive measures and tracking the evolution of gender inequalities over time.
4. Trade and Gender Index (TGI): Calculates the co-evolution of trade integration and gender inequalities in employment, summarizing the impact of trade openness on gender disparities within a country.

The toolbox includes a CGE model based on the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) for simulating economic reactions to policy changes. It has been applied to Kenya to evaluate the impact of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the EAC and the EU, identifying the effects on women’s employment across various sectors. The analysis shows small overall impacts, with agriculture and public sector employment seeing slight increases and decreases, respectively.

WHICH DATA AND STATISTICS DO WE NEED FOR A COMPREHENSIVE EX-ANTE GENDER IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF TRADE REFORMS?

Trade policies impact women’s economic empowerment and gender inequalities through various channels, including employment, production, consumption, and taxation. A comprehensive analysis of trade reforms’ gender impact requires considering these multiple channels. Current research focuses primarily on employment due to the availability of gender-disaggregated labor market data. The Trade and Gender Toolbox also estimates tariff changes’ effects on gendered employment patterns.

Challenges include the lack of coherent international statistics linking trade and gender and limited qualitative data. Improving data collection and compilation processes nationally and internationally is crucial for a full account of gender and trade linkages. Additionally, more data on the informal economy and the gender impact of services trade is needed.

Developing the Trade and Gender Toolbox further involves enhancing the GTAP CGE model to analyze other channels such as production, consumption, and entrepreneurship. This requires broader and systematic statistics on gender outcomes, trade flows, and policies. A gendered CGE model for ex-ante assessments of trade reforms should consider unpaid care and domestic work. Lastly, further development of the Toolbox’s components is essential for a holistic understanding of the gender-trade nexus.

DATA REQUIREMENTS FOR AN ANALYSIS OF GENDER AND TRADE

Gender-disaggregated data reveals significant disparities across various domains of gender inequality, such as education, health, labor market statistics, and political participation. However, data on intra-household dynamics, decision-making, and gendered security issues are scarce. Comprehensive analysis of gender and trade requires data on the roles of men and women in trade-related activities, including employment, production, entrepreneurship, and consumption.

Different data sources, like censuses, surveys, and administrative records, provide relevant statistics but face challenges in linking data across domains due to differences in data collection and levels of disaggregation. Microeconomic studies, which include ex-ante and ex-post analyses, help understand trade policy’s impact on individual and household welfare. Macroeconomic approaches use aggregate data to study the economy-wide impact of trade policy on gender outcomes but rely heavily on assumptions. Sectoral studies analyze specific industries but lack comprehensive gender-disaggregated data.

Improving data collection in micro, macro, and sectoral domains would enhance the analysis of the gender and trade nexus, particularly for developing countries. This improvement is essential for developing robust models and monitoring indicators to assess the gendered impacts of trade reforms.

CONCLUSIONS

In conclusion, achieving sustainable and inclusive development through trade necessitates prioritizing gender equality and women’s economic empowerment. The use of ex-ante gender impact assessments in trade policy formulation is crucial to anticipate and address potential inequalities. Tools like the UNCTAD Trade and Gender Toolbox offer frameworks to analyze and mitigate the gender effects of trade reforms effectively. However, comprehensive and reliable gender-disaggregated data remains essential to inform evidence-based policies and monitor progress in reducing gender disparities in trade over time. Therefore, concerted efforts at all levels are needed to enhance data collection capabilities and ensure that trade policies contribute positively to gender equality objectives.