Can Trade Help Achieve the Employment Targets of the Sustainable Development Goals?

Abstract

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Investigating into the Employment and Income Inequality Nexus in Sub-Saharan Africa

“…The HOS framework emphasises that globalisation benefits the poor and therefore, reduces inequality in poor countries. Countries export goods requiring the relatively abundant and cheap resources and import goods whose production uses intensively the relatively scarce and expensive factor of production (Samuelson, 1948;Vandenberg, 2017).…”

“…Hence, more job creation in low-income economies tends to reduce the level of inequality when the majority of the population obtains relatively similar incomes. Alternatively, middle-income nations are more advanced and inequality may rise due to a combination of factors such as globalisation, technological change and change in bargaining power of labour (Aghion et al, 1999;Antonelli & Gehringer, 2017;Vandenberg, 2017).…”

Increased equality of opportunity through international tourism

“…Between 1991 and 2015, the world experienced a significant decline in the share of the working poor and a noticeable fall in the share of vulnerable employment, and this occurred during a period of rapid globalization, including increased trade and lower barriers to trade (Vandeberg, 2017).…”

Aid for Trade in Asia and the Pacific:

“…Indonesia similarly illustrates adjustments caused by trade, but jobs there have been lost in more labor-intensive export sectors with weak export performance but strong barriers to investment (Aswicahyono et al 2014). Another example is the PRC, where competition in manufacturing has caused job losses in the north of the country (Vandenberg 2017). As shown in Figure 2.3, labor force participation has gradually decreased.…”

“…Trade can help achieve the SDG employment targets. In aggregate, trade has a positive impact on welfare, which can lead to job creation (Vandenberg 2017). However, trade and trade processes have different effects on labor supply, the movement of workers between economic sectors, and the quality of jobs.…”