Friends in Low Places? The Conditional Influence of Trade on the Status of Women

Abstract

Scholars of international relations have actively debated the consequences of globalization. Among this literature is growing attention to the status of women. While scholars have largely treated globalization as either simply improving or degrading women’s rights, we point to a conditional relationship. We argue that international trade can act as a vessel for the spread of international norms. In contrast to assuming that norms are non-varying, we suggest that the character of the norms that will be diffused and adopted are dependent on the domestic norms of those a state is “globalized with.” We offer two expectations. First, states that tend to trade more with democracies should see a domestic improvement in the status of women. Second, we expect women’s status to improve when states trade more frequently with those that have high levels on specific indicators of women’s status. An analysis of 153 countries from 1981 to 2006 provides strong support for the theory. As a general rule we find that higher levels of trade are negatively associated with women’s status, though trade actually exerts a positive influence when the majority is conducted with states that respect women’s rights or when a preponderance of trade is conducted with democracies.