Publication: Exporting and Female Labor Market Outcomes in Georgia
Date
2020-10
ISSN
Published
2020-10
Author(s)
Abstract
Using firm-level data for Georgia, the
paper estimates the quasi-elasticity of employment and wages
with respect to the share of exports in total sales, to
explore whether changes in the structure of sales (exporting
versus selling to the domestic market) matter for labor
market outcomes. The methodology uses exogenous fluctuations
in exchange rates combined with firms' initial exposure
to various markets as instrumental variables to identify a
causal effect. The results differentiate employment levels
and average wages by gender and consider whether export
destination or the competiveness of economies matters for
the magnitude of this elasticity. The data are from the
National Statistics Office of Georgia Statistics Survey of
Enterprises merged with customs data for 2006-17. The
instrumental variables regression results show that the act
of exporting improves female employment but reduces overall
average wages and female wages. Increasing exports to the
European Union as well as high-income countries drives this
positive result for female employment, whereas exporting to
upper-middle-income countries is found to have a negative
relationship with female employment.
Citation
“Hollweg, Claire H.; Ong Lopez, Anne. 2020. Exporting and Female Labor Market Outcomes in Georgia. Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9432. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34624 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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