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Segregated Economies in an Integrated World: The Gendered Consequences of Exchange Rate Movements in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 September 2023

Joel W. Simmons Open the ORCID record for Joel W. Simmons [Opens in a new window]
Joel W. Simmons*
Affiliation:
Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA
*
Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

I argue that exchange rates are an underappreciated explanation for the significant variation in the extent of female labor force participation in developing countries. Occupational segregation in developing countries is such that women working outside of the home tend to be segregated in labor-intensive export-oriented industries. Consequently, when an overvalued exchange rate increases export prices, it reduces commensurately the demand for female labor. This causes some women to drop out of the labor force. Data from over 150 low- and middle-income countries between 1990 and 2015 support this argument.

Keywords

Exchange ratesglobalizationwomen
Type
Research Note
Information
International Organization , Volume 77 , Issue 3 , Summer 2023 , pp. 668 - 689
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The IO Foundation

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