Five methodological approaches for research on gender and trade impacts

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of five methodological approaches to study the relationships between trade and financial liberalisation on the one hand and gender on the other hand. The paper provides certainly not a complete overview, rather, it will try to point at opportunities and constraints for research on trade impacts from a methodological perspective, and emphasises feasibility. The structure of the paper is centred on five approaches to the study of gender and trade and financial liberalization: the market equilibrium approach, the structuralist approach, the golden straightjacket approach, the value chain approach and the trade elasticity approach. These approaches should not be taken as independent and mutually exclusive, as they will often overlap or interrelate in research practices. Nevertheless, each approach has its own methodology and emphasizes different causal factors in analysing gender impacts of trade and financial liberalization as well as trade impacts of gender relations.