Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Globalization, Labor Markets and Gender: Human Security Challenges from Cross-Border Sourcing in Services

  • Chapter
Globalization and the Third World

Abstract

Globalization has transformed labor markets with mixed results. In the more developed countries (MDCs), a ‘risk regime’ has replaced the economic security afforded by mass production, collective bargaining and full-employment macroeconomic policy. As some workers celebrate opportunities created by the dynamic new world, others bemoan the insecurity resulting from flexible labor markets: unemployment, temporary jobs, and an expanding informal economy (Beck 2000). Bhagwati’s optimism about the positive impact of trade on real wages of the unskilled may perhaps resonate with some workers in the United States (US) (2004, p. 126). But American service workers displaced in 2001–03 may only remember that a large percentage of them had not found employment by January 2004 or were re-employed at much lower pay, even with full-time positions (Jensen and Kletzer 2005).

We thank Chun Shing Wong for valuable assistance in the research phase of this project.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Aggarwal, Alok (2003), The Future of IT Industry in India and China Evalueserve presentation, sccie.ucsc.edu/documents/workshops/global_it/2003/Aggarwal.pdf.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bajpai, Nirupam, Jeffrey D. Sachs, Rohit Arora, and Hapreet Khurana (2004), ‘Global services sourcing: issues of cost and quality’, CGSD Working Paper No. 16, Center on Globalization and Sustainable Development, Columbia University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bardhan, Ashok D. and Cyntha Kroll (2003), ‘The new wave of outsourcing’, Fisher Center Research Report 1103, University of California, Berkeley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baumol, William J. and Edward N. Wolff (1998), ‘Speed of technical progress and length of the average interjob period’, Jerome Levy Economics Institute Working Paper No. 234, May.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beck, Ulrich (2000), World Risk Society, Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bhagwati, Jagdish (2004), In Defense of Globalization New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bhagwati, J., A. Panagariya and T.N. Srinivasan (2004), ‘The muddles over outsourcing’, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 93–114.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blobspot.com (2004), Call Center Services India, January 11–16; online at <http://www.callcenterservicesindia.blogspot.com/2004>

  • Brainard, Lael, Robert E. Litan, and Nicholas Warren (2005), ‘A fairer deal for America’s workers in a new era of offshoring’, prepared for the Brooking Trade Forum, Washington, D.C.

    Google Scholar 

  • Castells, Manuel (2003), ‘The rise of the Fourth World’, in David Held and Anthony McGrew (eds) The Global Tran formations Reader and Introduction to the Globalization Debate, 2nd edition, Cambridge: Polity Press, pp. 430–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Center for American Progress (2004), ‘Outsourcing statistics in perspective’, March 16, available online at <http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.aspz?c=biJR>.

  • Chen, Martha, Joann Vanek, Francie Lund, James Heintz, with Renana Jhabvala and Christine Bonner (2005), Progress of the World’s Women 2005: Women, Work, and Poverty, UNDP: New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • China Statistical Yearbook 2003 compiled by the National Bureau of Statistics of China, China Statistics Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dong, Xiao-Yuan, Jiangchum Yang, Fenglian Due and Sai Ding (2005), ‘Women’s employment and public-sector restructuring: The case of urban China’, in Grace Lee and Malcolm Warner (eds) Unemployment in China: Economy, Human Resources Sr Labor Markets, RoutledgeCurzon: forthcoming.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dossani, Rafiq (2005), ‘Globalization and the outsourcing of services: The impact of Indian offshoring’, prepared for the Brookings Trade Forum, Washington, D.C. The Economist (2004), ‘A world of work. A survey of outsourcing’, November 13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freeman, C. (2001), ’Is local: global as feminine: masculine? Rethinking the gender of globalization’, Signs, 26(4), 1007–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Government of India (2002), Women and Men in India, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Central Statistical Organization.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hafkin, N. and Nancy Taggart (2001), ‘Gender, information technology, and developing countries: An analytic study’, Academy for Educational Development, for the Office of Women in Development Bureau for Global Programs.

    Google Scholar 

  • International Labour Organization (ILO) (2004) EPZ Employment Statistics,<http://www.ilo.org/public/english/dialogue/sector/themes/epz/stats.htm>.

  • International Organization for Migration (2003), World Migration 2003: Managing Migration — Challenges and Responses for People on the Move available online at <http://www.iom.int/DOCUMENTS/PUBLICATION/EN>.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jensen, J. Bradford and Lori G. Kletzer (2005), ‘Tradable services: Understanding the scope and impact of services offshoring’, Institute for International Economics and University of California, Santa Cruz.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kalita, S. Mitra (2005), ‘Virtual Secretary Puts New Face on Pakistan’, Washington Post, May 10, p. A01.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelkar, Govind, Girija Shrestha and N. Veena (2002), ‘IT industry and women’s agency: Explorations in Bangalore and Delhi, India’, Gender, Technology and Development, 6(1), 63–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mann, C.L. (2003), ‘Globalization of IT services and white collar jobs: The next wave of productivity growth’, Policy Brief PBO3–11, Washington, D.C.: Institute for International Economics.

    Google Scholar 

  • McKinsey Global Institute (2005), The Emerging Global Labor Market McKinsey and Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Microsoft (2005), World-wide Labs, <http://research.microsoft.com/aboutmsr/labs/default.aspx>.

  • Miigrom, Paul and John Roberts (1990), ‘The economics of modern manufacturing: technology, strategy, and organization, American Economic Review 80(2), 511–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Minevich, Mike and Frank Jurgen Richter (2005), Global Outsourcing Report 2005, New York: Going Global Ventures, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mirchandani, K. (2005), ‘Gender eclipsed? Racial hierarchies in transnational call center work’, unpublished manuscript, University of Toronto.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mirchandani, K. (2004), ‘Practices of global capital: gaps, cracks and ironies in transnational call centers in India’, Global Networks, 4(4), 355–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mukoyama, Toshihiko and Aysegül Sahin (2004), ‘Why did the average duration of unemployment become so much longer?’, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Staff Report no. 194, September.

    Google Scholar 

  • NASSCOM (2005), ‘Indian IT Industry Fact Sheet’, available online at <http://www.nasscom.org>, accessed on 02/03/05.

  • NASSCOM (2003), NASSCOM survey indicates growth of 24.4% in employment in Indian software and services industry in 2002–03’, <http://www.nasscom.org>.

  • Nicholson, Brian (2001), ‘Global software outsourcing: The solution to the IT skill gap’, School of Accounting and Finance Workshop Report, University of Manchester, UK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pearson, Ruth (2003), ‘Feminist responses to economic globalisation: Some examples of past and future practice’, Gender and Development, 25–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Poster, W.R. (2004), ‘Who’s on the line? Indian call center agents pose as Americans for US-outsourced firms’, unpublished paper, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pyle, Jean L. (2001), ‘Sex, maids, and export processing: Risks and reasons for gendered global production networks’, International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society, 15(1), pp. 55–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shelburne, Robert C. (2004), ‘Trade and inequality: The role of vertical specialization and outsourcing’, in Global Economy Journal 4(2), 1–32, available online at <http://www.bepress.com/gej>.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trefler, Daniel (2005), ‘Offshoring: Threats and opportunities’, paper prepared for the Brookings Trade Forum 2005, Washington, D.C.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tschang, T. and A. Goldstein (2004), ‘Production and political economy in the animation industry: Why insourcing and outsourcing occur’, paper presented at the DRUID summer conference, June, Elsinore, Denmark.

    Google Scholar 

  • US Department of Commerce (2005), ‘International Economic Accounts’, Bureau of Economic Analysis, <http://www.bea.gov/bea/dil.htm>, accessed on September 30.

  • US Department of Labor (2004), ‘Highlights of women’s earnings in 2003’, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vernon, R. (1966), ‘International Trade and Investment in the Product Cycle’, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 80(2), 190–207.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • World Bank (2005), <http://devdata.worldbank.org/data.query>.

Download references

Authors
  1. Nahid Aslanbeigui
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Gale Summerfield
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, Eastern Mediterranean University, North Cyprus

    B. N. Ghosh

  2. Centre for the Study of Human Development, Leeds, UK

    B. N. Ghosh

  3. Eastern Mediterranean University, North Cyprus

    Halil M. Guven

Copyright information

© 2006 Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Aslanbeigui, N., Summerfield, G. (2006). Globalization, Labor Markets and Gender: Human Security Challenges from Cross-Border Sourcing in Services. In: Ghosh, B.N., Guven, H.M. (eds) Globalization and the Third World. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230502567_6

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation