The Gendered Impact of Trade Liberalization on Informal Employment in Pakistan: A Sectoral Perspective

This study examines the impact of trade liberalization on gendered informal employment using micro-level data from the manufacturing sector of Pakistan. Using the two-stage least squares estimation (TSLS) technique the valuable impact of trade openness on informal employment of gender is investigated. We find positive liaison between trade liberalization and informal employment in Pakistan. The results show that trade liberalization boost gender parity in informal employment. These findings are robust and insensitive to the insertion of other control variables. Therefore, government should promote trade policies to achieve gender parity in employment.