Mexiko är ett av de länder som har liberaliserat sin handel med omvärlden på senare år. Hur har det påverkat landets kvinnor, som i genomsnitt har en sämre ekonomisk position än männen? En ny studie, ”Did Trade Liberalization Help Women? The Case of Mexico in the 1990s”, finner följande:

We find that that women’s relative wage remained stable while employment increased, leading to an increase in women’s wage bill share. Between-industry shifts, consistent with trade-based explanations, account for up to 40 percent of the growth in women’s wage bill share between 1990 and 2000. Comparing across industries, we find tariff cuts and exports are positively related to industry growth and women benefited since some of the fastest growing industries were female-intensive industries. … Finally, we find suggestive evidence that household bargaining power shifted in favor of women. Expenditures shifted from goods associated with male preference, such as men’s clothing and tobacco and alcohol, to those associated with female preference such as women’s clothing and education.

Givetvis finns ingen garanti för att frihandel särskilt gynnar kvinnor men resultatet är ändå intressant därför att det visar att mindre politisk styrning av ekonomin inte nödvändigtvis missgynnar ekonomiskt svagare grupper.