Trade in appliances, household production, and labor force participation

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Medina, Pamela; Sotelo, Sebastian; Velasquez-Cabrera, Daniel
• 署名单位: University of Toronto; National Bureau of Economic Research; Claremont Colleges; Claremont McKenna College; Claremont Graduate University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-1996
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jinteco.2026.104241
• 发表日期: 2026
• 关键词: general equilibrium-analysis; import competition; liberalization evidence; impacts; adjustment; engines; decline

摘要

We examine how trade influences female labor supply through reductions in the prices of household appliances that substitute for domestic labor. Using a comprehensive data set from 1981 to 2017, which includes four population censuses, household surveys, and customs records from Peru, we show that labor force participation rose at the same time that appliance import prices fell. We then develop and estimate a dynamic general equilibrium model of trade and household production, to quantitatively evaluate the aggregate impact of declining appliance prices. We find that the reduction in appliance prices during the sample period leads to an increase in female labor force participation that explains one tenth of the total rise in female labor participation in Peru over the past 30 years.