Global value chains and female employment: The evidence from Vietnam

Abstract

What is the relationship between female employment and global value chains (GVCs) in developing countries? Motivated by the rise of offshoring into Vietnam, we study Vietnam's small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from 2011 to 2015. The empirical findings suggest a positive association between global value chains and the female share of total workforce, unskilled workforce and production workforce; while GVCs are negatively associated with the female share of skilled workforce and non-production workforce. Intriguingly, the technology of GVC-involved firms is negatively associated with the female employment share in the sample, suggesting that female employment remains largely in the low value-added activities of the globally integrated supply chains in Vietnam.