ABSTRACT
In various regions of the world, increased numbers of workers—including women—have shifted from agriculture and subsistence production to waged employment in the expanding manufacturing and service sectors. Shifts from agriculture to manufacturing, and from lower-wage to higher-wage employment in Asia, still lag behind most developed regions. The factors driving global integration, namely, globalization, trade expansion, technological change, and the internationalization of production, have altered production patterns in both developed and developing countries, and have promoted growth and development. Keeping production costs low, through the casualization and informalization of labor, has enabled certain industries to develop a competitive edge in the international market, but at the social cost of keeping women outside of formal employment and related benefits. Both scholars and policymakers widely acknowledge that official labor force data provides inadequate coverage of women's informal remunerative work.
