This study examines the relationship between trade, measured by export propensity, and the gender wage gap in two major South African cities with contrasting industrial structures: Cape Town and eThekwini. Using spatially disaggregated administrative data from the Cities Support Programme (CSP) and applying the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition, we quantify how trade influences wage disparities between men and women in each city. The findings show that in Cape Town, where the economy is predominantly services-based, higher export propensity is associated with a wider gender wage gap, whereas in eThekwini, with its manufacturing-oriented economy, greater export propensity correlates with a narrower gender wage gap. These contrasting outcomes underscore the role of local industrial composition in mediating the gendered impacts of trade. The results suggest that treating trade as both location-neutral and gender-neutral risks exacerbating inequalities in some contexts while reducing them in others, and that policy interventions should be sensitive to local economic structures to ensure that trade integration advances, rather than undermines, gender equity.
Trade and the Gender Wage Gap in South Africa: A Comparative Analysis of Cape Town and eThekwini
- Valentine Madzudzo
- Dieter von Fintel
- Mamello Nchake