International Trade and Labor Markets : Evidence from the Arab Republic of Egypt
Since the early 1990s, some developing countries have experienced a coincidence of rising exports—especially those related to global value chains—and improved labor market outcomes. During 2000–10, rising trade was associated with falling poverty...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2021
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/154431621606334137/International-Trade-and-Labor-Markets-Evidence-from-the-Arab-Republic-of-Egypt http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35629 |
| id |
okr-10986-35629 |
|---|---|
| recordtype |
oai_dc |
| spelling |
okr-10986-356292021-06-02T05:10:44Z International Trade and Labor Markets : Evidence from the Arab Republic of Egypt Robertson, Raymond Vergara Bahena, Mexico Alberto Kokas, Deeksha Lopez-Acevedo, Gladys LABOR MARKET TRADE AGREEMENT INTERNATIONAL TRADE GLOBAL VALUE CHAIN POVERTY INEQUALITY INFORMALITY FEMALE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION EXPORT COMPETITIVENESS GRAVITY MODEL BARTIK APPROACH WAGES Since the early 1990s, some developing countries have experienced a coincidence of rising exports—especially those related to global value chains—and improved labor market outcomes. During 2000–10, rising trade was associated with falling poverty and inequality in many developing countries. However, the Arab Republic of Egypt was not one of these countries, although it signed several trade agreements. The lack of trade-related improvements in labor market outcomes—including poverty, inequality, average wage levels, informality, and female labor force participation—could be explained by at least two possibilities. First, it is possible that trade agreements did not produce the same increase in trade for Egypt as for other countries. Second, it is possible that exports do not generate the same kinds of changes in labor market outcomes as experienced in other countries. After presenting the trends in key labor market outcomes over 2000–19, this paper evaluates both hypotheses. Using a gravity model approach, the results suggest that the changes in Egypt’s exports following trade agreements are above internationally estimated averages. Second, the results from a Bartik approach find no significant relationship between rising exports and wages, informality, or female labor force participation. Additional analysis shows that Egypt’s average wage levels are among the highest among countries that export the same goods exported by Egypt, possibly suggesting that Egypt has a relatively weak comparative advantage in currently exported goods, and thus might need to rethink its export basket. 2021-06-01T21:35:02Z 2021-06-01T21:35:02Z 2021-05 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/154431621606334137/International-Trade-and-Labor-Markets-Evidence-from-the-Arab-Republic-of-Egypt http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35629 English Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9668 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Middle East and North Africa Egypt, Arab Republic of |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English |
| topic |
LABOR MARKET TRADE AGREEMENT INTERNATIONAL TRADE GLOBAL VALUE CHAIN POVERTY INEQUALITY INFORMALITY FEMALE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION EXPORT COMPETITIVENESS GRAVITY MODEL BARTIK APPROACH WAGES |
| spellingShingle |
LABOR MARKET TRADE AGREEMENT INTERNATIONAL TRADE GLOBAL VALUE CHAIN POVERTY INEQUALITY INFORMALITY FEMALE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION EXPORT COMPETITIVENESS GRAVITY MODEL BARTIK APPROACH WAGES Robertson, Raymond Vergara Bahena, Mexico Alberto Kokas, Deeksha Lopez-Acevedo, Gladys International Trade and Labor Markets : Evidence from the Arab Republic of Egypt |
| geographic_facet |
Middle East and North Africa Egypt, Arab Republic of |
| relation |
Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9668 |
| description |
Since the early 1990s, some developing
countries have experienced a coincidence of rising
exports—especially those related to global value chains—and
improved labor market outcomes. During 2000–10, rising
trade was associated with falling poverty and inequality in
many developing countries. However, the Arab Republic of
Egypt was not one of these countries, although it signed
several trade agreements. The lack of trade-related
improvements in labor market outcomes—including poverty,
inequality, average wage levels, informality, and female
labor force participation—could be explained by at least two
possibilities. First, it is possible that trade agreements
did not produce the same increase in trade for Egypt as for
other countries. Second, it is possible that exports do not
generate the same kinds of changes in labor market outcomes
as experienced in other countries. After presenting the
trends in key labor market outcomes over 2000–19, this paper
evaluates both hypotheses. Using a gravity model approach,
the results suggest that the changes in Egypt’s exports
following trade agreements are above internationally
estimated averages. Second, the results from a Bartik
approach find no significant relationship between rising
exports and wages, informality, or female labor force
participation. Additional analysis shows that Egypt’s
average wage levels are among the highest among countries
that export the same goods exported by Egypt, possibly
suggesting that Egypt has a relatively weak comparative
advantage in currently exported goods, and thus might need
to rethink its export basket. |
| format |
Working Paper |
| author |
Robertson, Raymond Vergara Bahena, Mexico Alberto Kokas, Deeksha Lopez-Acevedo, Gladys |
| author_facet |
Robertson, Raymond Vergara Bahena, Mexico Alberto Kokas, Deeksha Lopez-Acevedo, Gladys |
| author_sort |
Robertson, Raymond |
| title |
International Trade and Labor Markets : Evidence from the Arab Republic of Egypt |
| title_short |
International Trade and Labor Markets : Evidence from the Arab Republic of Egypt |
| title_full |
International Trade and Labor Markets : Evidence from the Arab Republic of Egypt |
| title_fullStr |
International Trade and Labor Markets : Evidence from the Arab Republic of Egypt |
| title_full_unstemmed |
International Trade and Labor Markets : Evidence from the Arab Republic of Egypt |
| title_sort |
international trade and labor markets : evidence from the arab republic of egypt |
| publisher |
World Bank, Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2021 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/154431621606334137/International-Trade-and-Labor-Markets-Evidence-from-the-Arab-Republic-of-Egypt http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35629 |
| _version_ |
1764483453948002304 |