The impact of trade liberalization and other socio-economic factors in the employment of children of households engaged in the manufacturing industry

• Main Authors: Ho, Charleen Mae, Que, Katrina Soleil, Racpan, Katrina Anne.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2006
• Subjects: Children > Employment; Free trade; Economics
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/5837
• Institution: De La Salle University

This study considers the effect of trade liberalization on child labor. Trade liberalization can bring about an increase in the income of unskilled laborers, which includes child workers. This increase in household income can either discourage or encourage child labor depending on the larger between the income and the substitution effects, respectively. In sum, trade liberalization has an ambiguous effect on child labor. In this study, we examine the effect of trade liberalization as well as other socio-economic factors on the probability of a child working using data from the 2001 survey on children, giving primary focus on households engaged in manufacturing. Our results show that more trade liberalization has a significant negative impact on child labor.