Does Educating Girls Improve Export Opportunities?

Abstract

Case study evidence from developing countries suggests that availability of educated female labour is an important determinant of success in exporting manufactures. This paper, based on a general model in which the pattern of trade is determined by supplies of human and natural resources, uses crosscountry regression analysis as an alternative way to test the hypothesis of a linkage between female education and manufactured exports. The results give only weak support to the hypothesis, but are afflicted by collinearity in the cross-country data. Further research should thus focus on evidence at a level intermediate between case studies and cross-country regressions, and in particular on country studies.