Globalization and child labor
2010 | thesis; doctoral thesis
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Documents & Media
Details
- Authors
- Kis-Katos, Krisztina
- Abstract
- This book investigates the effects of globalization on child labor from a theoretical and empirical perspective, focusing more strongly on the empirical evidence. From the multitude of aspects of globalization, the book concentrates on the effects propagated through the channel of goods trade. Trade liberalization affects child labor outcomes primarily through shifting goods and factor prices. In a developing country, these price changes can increase the demand for unskilled labor, but at the same time they can be expected to raise the income of the poor; the resulting income and substitution effects will also affect household decisions on child labor supply. After presenting the regulatory environment and an overview of the main factors leading to child labor, the book addresses supply side determinants by emphasizing the gender-specific differences in the trade-off between different forms of work and schooling (based on North Indian evidence). The subsequent analysis of the determinants of child labor in Indonesian small scale manufacturing explores the interplay of supply and demand side factors by addressing explicitly firm location decisions, and hence the demand for child labor. It demonstrates that increases in economic activity, although beneficial per se, can also raise the demand for child labor. The theoretical analysis on the effects of trade liberalization on child labor supply emphasizes the role of relative price changes and poverty. It argues that the redistributive effects of more open trade are reducing child labor incidence, but potentially not in the poorest countries; the presented empirical analysis (based on a country panel) supports this claim. The last part of the book addresses the causal effects of trade liberalization on regional child labor and schooling outcomes in Indonesia over the time-span of 1993-2002. It finds that child labor reduced significantly more in those Indonesian regions that were more strongly exposed to trade liberalization, which can be attributed to larger reductions in poverty in those regions. From a policy perspective, the book argues that child labor bans, induced by the threat of trade restrictions or otherwise, might be less effective in addressing the global child labor problem than other policy instruments. The forward-looking policy response to child labor should entail promoting consequential pro-poor policies, improving significantly the school system, and shifting the incentives in favor of education. Globalization, more specifically trade liberalization, can both increase and reduce child labor and thus its effects on working children are context specific. But if the poor can reap the benefits from the increasing production, while at the same time policies actively promote schooling, the reduction of trade barriers can contribute to the eradication of child labor.
- Issue Date
- 2010
- Extent
- 1-172
- Language
- English