Trade, Innovation, and Gender

Abstract: Essay I (with Olga Lark): We examine whether exposure to gender inequality at export destinations affects the gender wage gap in exporting firms. We motivate the analysis through a stylized model where wages depend on worker productivity, and men have a comparative advantage when trading with gender-unequal countries due to customer discrimination. Empirically, we use high-quality matched employer-employee data from Sweden and calculate how exposed firms are to country-level gender inequality through their export destinations. Although increased export intensity on average leads to a wider within-firm gender wage gap, the effect is entirely driven by trade with gender-unequal countries.Essay II (with Daniel Halvarsson, Olga Lark, and Patrik Tingvall): We study how the associated need for communication with foreign partners when exporting shapes the gender wage gap. Specifically, we examine how the demand for interpersonal skills in trade and gender-specific differences in negotiations are related to the remuneration of men and women. Our key finding is that export of goods that are intensive in interpersonal contacts widens the gender wage gap. The negative wage effect is most pronounced for domestic exporting firms, which mainly deal with external contractors. We ascribe this result to a male comparative advantage in bargaining - a skill that is especially needed and rewarded when serving foreign markets, where intense contracting problems manifest themselves.Essay III I study how firm-specific trade opportunities affect firms' R&D investments and innovative activities. To construct trade opportunities that are exogenous to firm-level decisions, I use the variation in export (import) patterns and exploit the fact that firms differ in their product-country exporting (sourcing) patterns. Both export and import opportunities generate firm-level growth, but the effects on innovation activities are very different for the two trade shocks. Export opportunities yield more R&D investments and innovations. On the other hand, import opportunities show no effects on R&D investments, and a negative impact on innovation.Essay IV (with Patrik Tingvall): This paper explores regional variation in the effects of publicly sponsored R&D grants on SME performance. The results suggest there is no guarantee that the grants will impact firm growth, either positively or negatively. Positive growth effects are most likely to be found for publicly sponsored R&D grants targeting SMEs located in regions abundant with skilled labor, whereas the opposite is found for SMEs located in regions with a limited supply of skilled labor.