Abstract

PRIETO-BUSTOS,, William Orlando; MOLINA-DOMINGUEZ,, Juliana  and  RIANO-VIATELA, Daniel. The Effect of Trade Liberalization on the Labor Market and Poverty in the Apparel Sector in Colombia. Finanz. polit. econ. [online]. 2024, vol.16, n.1, 180.  Epub May 30, 2024. ISSN 2248-6046.  https://doi.org/10.14718/revfinanzpolitecon.v16.n1.2024.7.

In 1974, the Multifiber Arrangement (MFA) was established with the aim of facilitating bilateral transit of garments. Under the rules of the World Trade Organization, the Multifiber Arrangement was replaced by a textiles and garments agreement in 1995, with a temporal horizon of 10 years. According to this agreement, the complete elimination of barriers to international trade for the garment sector was to take effect by 2005. However, due to continued restrictions on trade from China, the full market liberalization did not occur until 2009. Coincidentally, the international garment market witnessed the entry of China and a contraction in international demand resulting from the 2008 economic crisis. From a theoretical perspective, employing a pre-post estimator and a differences-in-differences estimator, this paper assesses the impact of disturbances in the international market on poverty, employment, worked hours, and the influence on the number of self-employed workers in the garment sector in Colombia. The results indicate that increased competition in the international market led to adjustments with a reduction in occupation, rises in poverty rates, increases in the proportion of self-employment, and a deterioration in the quality of employment.

Keywords : employment quality; poverty; international markets; apparel sector.

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