Conclusion

In Bangladesh, Egypt, and Turkey, domestic firms are responsible for the decision to keep wages and education low to remain cost-competitive and to maintain a more maledominated labor force. The countries with the lowest female shares of apparel employment and the lowest FLFP rates all have predominantly domestic firms, and social norms and laws in these countries also limit gender workplace equality. Domestic-owned firms are more likely to embody the cultural and social norms and values of the country.

Relatedly, foreign-owned firms often invest in countries with similar sociocultural backgrounds. When they do engage in business with countries with different social norms, they are subject to national laws but not beholden to local norms. As such, doing business with countries with fewer barriers to gender equality may help overcome barriers from social norms.

An apparel export-led industrialization path benefits workers in the short term, but without expanding other industries and further investing in education or skill development, apparel exports are not sufficient to induce the transition from jobs to careers for women. Apparel exporting is typically a key portion of a country’s export basket for only a limited number of years before the country can no longer remain globally cost-competitive.

Countries reap the most benefits by engaging with an eye toward workforce investment and using apparel manufacturing as a springboard to other sectors. Countries that stay in apparel without upgrading can continue to remain competitive at the low end, but this does not advance a country along the jobs-to-careers trajectory. It is important for countries to be aware of these alternative paths and to develop a longer-term strategy to achieve professional development; otherwise, if they lose competitive advantage, they may become stuck in the “middle-income trap.”

For country policy makers, the most important points are to use the opportunities the apparel industry offers while remaining aware of the industry’s limits to advancement and the transitory nature of its GVC participation. Countries can use apparel to raise their human capital—hence better enabling movement to other industries—and to increase wages to promote domestic services. They can choose to keep wages low to remain a competitive global supplier, or they can invest, promote, and enable educational expansion and industrial diversification. Finally, these strategies do not have to be mutually exclusive, because different strategies can be promoted in different geographical regions.