Enhancing Job Opportunities for Women Notes from LAC

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Enhancing Job Opportunities for WomenNotes from
LAC

• Bill Maloney
• LCRCE

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3 Quick issues

• Why are women so informal?
• Is globalization good for women?
• Discrimination or comparative advantage?

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1. Why are so many women Informal?

• Sectoral allocation by gender, marital and
  parental status in Mexico.

Source Cunningham 2001.
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Transition matrices similar with a few key
exceptions
Transitions between informal self employment and
OLF by gender
Source Bosch and Maloney (2007)
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Motivations differ by gender
Reported Reasons to Be Informal Self-employed in
Mexico
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Motivations differ by gender
Reported Reasons to Be Informal Self-employed in
Brazil
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2. Trade opening and gender comparative advantage

• In LAC, women have tended to benefit from new
  types of jobs maquilas, tourism, non-traditional
  agricultural products
• Maquilas
• MX began 80 female now decline to 50
• MX employers prefer women- dextrous and docile
  reliable, responsible drinkers (Tiano 2004)
• Women prefer maquila work- combination of
  relative security and flexibility. High turnover
  a result of voluntary exits, weekends free.
  (Fussell 2000)
• Allows allocation of time between home and market
  (Chant 1991, Sargent and Matthew 1999)
• Better benefits, onsite nurse, transportation
  etc.
• Masculinization not crowding out- just ran out
  of women-Guadalara-cant find domestic help

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New Agricultural products

• Tourism extension of many household tasks but
  less mobility and visibility (Chant 1990)
• NTAE
• Wages in NTAE higher than other rurla areas
• Women in Ecuadoral flower export sector in
  Ecuador 40 ,more than comparable jobs
• Chile vegetables- 59 more (Jarvis 2003)

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Collateral effects

• Ecuador flowers
• Changing roles in household
• Lower domestic violence
• Greater sharing of household tasks
• Newman (2000)
• Chile
• 13 of women cite importance of having an
  independent wage
• MX maquilas- greater independence (de la Rocha)

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Gender Discrimination in Latin America

• Latinobarometer
• Perceptions economic factors are considered
  more important than social factors.
• The most Discriminated-Against group is the
  Poor. Women are in the 12th position.
• Bravo, Sahueza and Urzua (2006a) Sent resumes of
  fictitious applicants to job postings in Chile.
  No systematic differences in callbacks rates by
  gender.
• Bravo, Sahueza and Urzua (2006b) Studied gender
  gap in the labor market among U graduates.
  Evidence of unjustified gender differences in
  earning only in the law profession.
• Moreno et al. (2004) Field experiment to detect
  discrimination in hiring in Lima. No significant
  differences across groups. However, significant
  gender difference between the expected wage at
  the same positions controlling for observable
  characteristics.

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Gender Discrimination in Latin America

• Castillo, Petrie and Torero (2007) Experiment
  using a repeated public goods game where the
  outcomes depended on the individuals decisions
  and on of their peers. People showed evidence of
  stereotyping in favor of woman and tall and
  white-looking people when choosing partners.
• Details in Outsiders Interamerican Development
  Bank annual report

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Figure 2.5 Absolute Mean duration by labor force
status

• Figure 2.5 Absolute Mean duration by labor force
  status

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• Table 2.9 Reported Reasons to Be Informal
  Salaried in Brazil
• percent

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• Chile- low rates of labor participation and very
  low informal sector