Globalization and the gender wage gap: Evidence from the export technology complexity in China

This paper studies the impact of the improvement of the position in the manufacturing global value chain (GVC) on the gender wage gap, drawing on both theoretical and empirical perspectives. Using export technology complexity to measure the extent of GVC integration across Chinese provinces, this study combines provincial-level data with individual-level information from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS). This study finds that the occupational gender wage gap tends to decrease with increasing the embedding of the manufacturing global value chain position, with more pronounced effects observed in in low-skilled, low-wage, and underdeveloped areas. The mechanism is that the integration into global value chains enhances female human capital, reduces the gender gap in market labor participation and traditional gender stereotypes, but this does not mean that the status and awareness of women's career advancement have been further improved. These results offer valuable policy insights for advancing the goal of common prosperity.