Globalization and the gender wage gap: Evidence from the export technology complexity in China

Globalization and the gender wage gap: Evidence from the export technology complexity in China | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Globalization and the gender wage gap: Evidence from the export technology complexity in China Xinyuan Zhang This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7264387/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 10 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This paper studies the impact of the improvement of the position in the manufacturing global value chain (GVC) on the gender wage gap, drawing on both theoretical and empirical perspectives. Using export technology complexity to measure the extent of GVC integration across Chinese provinces, this study combines provincial-level data with individual-level information from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS). This study finds that the occupational gender wage gap tends to decrease with increasing the embedding of the manufacturing global value chain position, with more pronounced effects observed in in low-skilled, low-wage, and underdeveloped areas. The mechanism is that the integration into global value chains enhances female human capital, reduces the gender gap in market labor participation and traditional gender stereotypes, but this does not mean that the status and awareness of women's career advancement have been further improved. These results offer valuable policy insights for advancing the goal of common prosperity. Business and commerce/Business and management Social science/Business and management Business and commerce/Economics Social science/Economics manufacturing global value chain embedding export technology complexity gender gap wage distribution Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 13 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 07 Jan, 2026 Reviews received at journal 03 Dec, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 03 Dec, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 03 Dec, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 03 Dec, 2025 Editor invited by journal 01 Nov, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 23 Aug, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 13 Aug, 2025 First submitted to journal 31 Jul, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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