Modelling the Effects of Trade on Women, at Work and at Home

The paper assesses how well a gendered social accounting matrix (SAM) and computable general equilibrium (CGE) model can capture the effects of trade on women. The authors apply these models to a simplified set of data for Bangladesh and Zambia to illustrate how differences in resource endowments, labour market characteristics and socio-cultural norms shape the way in which trade expansion affects gender inequalities. The results from the CGE model suggests there are more favourable trade effects in Bangladesh than in Zambia however the author acknowledges that some of the gender effects of trade are better analysed using other methods. For example the SAM approach tends to be more suitable when shedding light on how strategic gender needs are affected by economic reforms. The main conclusion of the paper is that no single approach can provide all the insights and therefore a combination of methods should be used.