Olga Lark

Title: Adjusting to partner expectations: Gender inequality in export destinations and the gender

Abstract:

This study examines whether exposure to trade partners with different gender norms influence the relative wages of female workers in the exporting firms. We utilize high-quality matched employer--employee data from Sweden, and find that exporting to less gender equal destinations increases the within match gender wage gap in the home country firms. That is, when export intensity increases, the female relative wages decrease more in firms trading with less gender equal countries. The results are robust to several specification tests. The relative wage effect is more pronounced for white-collar female workers, and is specifically attributed to increased international, rather than domestic, commerce. In the paper, we also provide a theoretical model explaining this phenomenon.