Globalisation, Gender, and Equity: Effects of Foreign Direct Investment on Labour Markets in Rural Indonesia

This study assesses the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on gendered labour markets in rural Indonesia. It focuses on the gender composition of the workforce, female and male workers? employment conditions and gender wage inequality. Th e research strategy of ?between-methods triangulation? is chosen, denoting the combination of quantitative and qualitative types of data generation and analysis. Two underlying mechanisms have been identified. A ?cost eff ect? associated with transnational corporations? (TNCs?) greater orientation towards the world market is the preferential recruitment of, on average, lower paid female workers. In light of global competitive cost considerations, this appears as a rational strategy for TNCs. Conversely, foreign fi rms? advanced technological endowments relative to domestic companies require a well-educated workforce with technical skills. In light of these perspectives, gender gaps in education and, on average, women?s weaker labour market attachment disadvantage female workers? employment in TNCs. Both eff ects are mediated by a ?reproductive constraint?. Th is refers to the asymmetric distribution of reproductive obligations between female and male household members, whereby female input into the domestic economy is more demanding relative to that of males. --gender,globalisation,foreign direct investment,labour markets,Indonesia,economic methodology

The financial crisis in South Asia: From jobless growth to jobless slump?

This chapter explores the impact of the global financial crisis on South Asia in terms of qualitative and quantitative aspects of employment. South Asia hosts a quarter of the world’s population and a fifth of the global workforce – as well as 40 percent of the global poor (World Bank 2010). This paper therefore contributes to an assessment of the current crisis on the livelihoods of inhabitants of one of the poorest regions in the world. It also provides more general insights about how volatilities in globally increasingly integrated markets translate into opportunities for decent work – or the lack thereof

The Employment Challenge of the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing: Scenario and Strategies for Pakistan

Abstract In January 2005, the quota system for imports of textiles and clothing was phased out and gave way to more liberalized global trade in textiles and clothing. The T&C industry is Pakistan’s main export engine. It is also a major industrial employer, and one of the few sectors that provide paid employment to female workers. The policy paper highlights the potentially negative impact of the phase out of the textile quota regime on employment-intensive garment production in Pakistan. This sub-sector also provides most employment for women workers. It demands mitigation of the expected social costs, for example, through skill upgrading, consistent implementation of existing labor laws and their extension to informal sector workers, as well as proactive policies that link Pakistani garments’ market access abroad with special regard for working conditions at home

Reflections on the Fair Food Agreement between the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and retail multinational Ahold

Ahold signs on to a programme for farmworkers ’ labou

Gender and globalisation in South Asia

Intro: Economic Integration, Stagnating Gender Equality? During the high-level meeting in Hong Kong, WTO member countries discussed issues ranging from abolishing agricultural export subsidies and industrial tariff reduction, and market access for foreign banks and telecom providers. The human face of trade and investment flows, however, is often hidden behind economic statistics and legal formulations. This human face is gendered: Globalisation has meant different things for women and men

The Gender Digital Divide in Rural Pakistan: How Wide is it and How to Bridge it?

While Pakistan’s National Information Technology (IT) Policy aims at harnessing the potential of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for development, especially in the underserved rural areas, it ignores the role of existing gender inequalities on the possible benefits of ICTs. We have investigated aspects of the ‘gender digital divide’ in rural areas of Pakistan in order to enable an evidence-based gender-sensitive revision of the policy as well as ICT-related interventions from which both females and males gain. The study took place in four of the most marginalized rural districts of the country where this divide is likely to be most pronounced. We found mobile phones to be the ICT that is most commonly available in rural Pakistan. Radios and TV sets are the second most widespread technologies in marginalised rural areas. However, mobile sets at hand are largely owned by women’s husbands, fathers and brothers, whose permission to make calls is required by a large share of all female respondents. I, therefore, argue that availability and gendered use of ICTs are two different things altogether. Social norms related to women and girls’ access to education as well as regulating their mobility prevent them from using ICTs. These norms have to be taken into account in policies and interventions to ensure women and girls’ access to and beneficial use of ICTs

The Trade and Gender Interface: A Perspective from Pakistan

Introduction: News on Pakistan’s trade performance is rarely found side by side, or even associated with, headlines on gender equality. Yet both are burning issues for Pakistani society. This article aims at highlighting their connections. Put differently, it shows how the world market is tied to Pakistani stoves. Trade is important for Pakistan’s economy due to the country’s comparative openness. The country—like most parts of the subcontinent—is a late globalizer, as compared to, for example, East Asia or Latin America. Structural adjustment programs implemented since 1988 under the aegis of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have been one catalyst for trade liberalization. Trade tariffs were reduced significantly, resulting in rising trade to gross domestic product (GDP) ratios. Today, the value of exports from Pakistan surpasses 21 billion U.S. dollars. Besides textile manufactures such as cotton cloth, bed wear, and knitwear, key exports include rice as well as leather manufactures, indicating the special role of the agricultural and manufacturing sectors for Pakistan’s trade. The main export destinations include the northern markets of the United States and European countries—such as the United Kingdom and Germany—as well as the Gulf states and Hong Kong (China)