Labour Market Effects of Trade Liberalisation: The case of Mauritius

Abstract

Taruna Shalini Ramessur
Senior Lecturer and Researcher, University of Technology, Mauritius

Ramesh Durbarry
Associate Professor, University of Technology, Mauritius

This article uses a partial equilibrium approach to measure the impact of trade liberalisation on the demand elasticity of labour in the apparel industry in Mauritius, a sector where, in general, those in the work force are poor. The findings reveal that there is no evidence that trade liberalisation has increased the overall labour demand elasticity with respect to wages, though it has increased the demand elasticity for female workers. We further examine the relationship between trade liberalisation measures and characteristics of poor households and find that the overall results are mixed and inconclusive, probably due to the high level of data aggregation.

Keywords: trade liberalisation, poverty alleviation