TRADE AND WOMEN IN THE LABOR MARKET: HOW DIFFERENT IS MENA FROM

The pattern of a high level of gender inequality in the workforce in the MENA region persists despite significant progress in women’s health and education in the region. [...] On the other hand, exploring the effects of trade and infrastructure on female labor-force participation in a large group of developing and emerging economies, Baliamoune-Lutz (2021b) found the effects of trade and access to electricity were non-linear (U-shaped), and exerted additional region-specific effects that were positive in LAC countries, and negative in MENA countries. [...] The correlation between access to electricity and female labor-force participation is positive in MENA and LAC and negative in SSA, while the correlation between electricity and male labor-force participation is positive in MENA and negative in the other two regions. [...] Thus, the effects of trade openness on women’s participation in the labor force in LAC and SSA differ from those identified in MENA countries In addition, the interplay between trade openness and access to electricity seems to have a negative effect on women’s labor-force participation in SSA. [...] ABOUT THE POLICY CENTER FOR THE NEW SOUTH The Policy Center for the New South (PCNS) is a Moroccan think tank aiming to contribute to the improvement of economic and social public policies that challenge Morocco and the rest of Africa as integral parts of the global South.