Importing Equality The Impact of Globalization on Gender Discrimination Sandra E. Black and Elizabet

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Importing Equality? The Impact of Globalization
on Gender DiscriminationSandra E. Black and
Elizabeth Brainerd

• Econ 321
• Alex Lundgren
• Matt Strayer
• Joe Briggie

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Theory Becker Model of Employer Discrimination
Setting W
MRP
Max
WN
CN
MRP
WN
CN
MRP
Return to long-run market state of
non-discrimination
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Goals of Paper

• Shows how increased competition from
  globalization affects the gender wage
  differential
• Uses imports as a measure of competition
• Compares concentrated vs. competitive industries
  to control for other factors affecting wage
  differential.
• Tests Beckers Model of Employer Discrimination
  for Gender

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Data

• Focus on U.S. Labor Industry 1977 1994
• Current Population Survey Supplement (Wage Data)
• 1977 Earliest that most metropolitan areas
  recognized.
• NBER Trade Database (Trade Data)
• 1994 Trade Data Ends.

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Data Cont.

• Benefits
• Large sample size.
• Many metro areas industries.
• Long time span of consistent data.
• Drawbacks
• Limited to manufacturing
• Lacks data on individual labor market work
  experience

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Appendix Table A1Industries Categorized by
Whether Concentrated and Whether Affected by Trade
Non-Trade-Affected Industriesa
100 Meat Products 101 Dairy Products 102 Canned
Preserved Fruits Vegetables 111 Bakery
Products 112 Sugar Confectionery Products 120
Beverage Industries 121 Misc. Food Prep.
Kindred Products 141 Floor Coverings, Except Hard
Surfaces 142 Yarn, Thread Fabric Mills 150
Misc. Textile Mill Products 160 Pulp, Paper,
Paperboard Mills 161 Misc. Paper Pulp
Products 162 Paperboard Containers Boxes 181
Drugs 190 Paints, Varnishes, Related Products
191 Agricultural Chemicals 192 Industrial Misc.
Chemicals 200 Petroleum Refining 201 Misc.
Petroleum Coal Products 241 Misc. Wood
Products 242 Furniture Fixtures 251 Cement,
Concrete, Gypsum, Plaster Products 271 Iron
Steel Foundries 282 Fabricated Structural Metal
Products 290 Screw Machine Products 300 Misc.
Fabricated Metal Products 341 Radio, T.V.,
Communications Equipment 370 Cycles Misc.
Transportation Equipment 372 Optical Health
Services Supplies
110 Grain Mill Products 130 Tobacco
Manufacturers 140 Dyeing Finishing Textiles,
Except Wool Knit 182 Soaps, Cosmetics 250 Glass
Glass Products 262 Misc. Nonmetallic Mineral
Stone Products 280 Other Primary Metal
Industries 291 Metal Forgings Stampings 292
Ordnance 310 Engines Turbines 311 Farm
Machinery Equipment 352 Aircraft Parts 360 Ship
Boat Building Repairing 361 Railroad
Locomotive Equipment
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Appendix Table A1 Cont.Industries Categorized by
Whether Concentrated and Whether Affected by Trade
Trade-Affected Industriesa
380 Photographic Supplies Equipment 132
Knitting Mills 252 Structural Clay Products 151
Apparel Accessories, Except Knit 261 Pottery
Related Products 152 Misc. Fabricated Textile
Products 312 Construction Material Handling
211 Other Rubber Products, Plastics, Machines,
Footwear, Belting 321 Office Accounting
Machines 221 Footwear, Except Leather Plastic
322 Electronic Computing Equipment 222 Leather
Products, Except Footwear 340 Household
Appliances 281 Cutlery, Hand Tools, Other
Hardware 342 Electrical Machinery, Equipment,
Supplies 320 Metalworking Machinery 351 Motor
Vehicles and Motor Vehicle 331 Machinery, Except
Electrical Equipment 371 Scientific
Controlling Instruments
Concentrated
High Skilled
A A trade-affected industry is defined as one in
which the import share increased by at least .10
between 1976 and 1993. A concentrated industry is
defined as having a four-firm concentration ratio
of greater than .40 in 1977.
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Analysis Methods

• Control for skill of workers.
• Separate industries into competitive
  concentrated (less competitive) industries.
• Industry is concentrated if top 4 companies make
  up 40 market share or more.
• Assumption is that gender wage gap in
  concentrated industries will be affected more
  than competitive industries by increased imports.

Trade-Affected Concentrated
Non- Trade- Affected Concentrated
Trade- Affected Competitive
Non-Trade-Affected Competitive
Differences in the Gender Wage Gap
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Supporting Data
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Results
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Results Cont.

• Agrees with Becker for concentrated industries.
• Black and Brainerds data suggests that trade
  increased gender wage gap in competitive
  industries, but reduced gap in concentrated
  industries.
• Limitation in the results because they were
  unable to capture labor industry work experience.
• Although trade may increase wage inequality by
  modestly reducing the relative wages of less
  skilled workers, at the same time it appears to
  benefit women by reducing the ability of firms to
  discriminate.

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Questions?