Using a panel of establishments from the annual survey of industries, I study the impact of the 1991 trade liberalization episode in India on the employment share of women. Contrary to the predictions of a taste-based discrimination model, I find that establishments exposed to larger output tariff reductions and import competition reduced the share of female workers. I also find that input tariff reductions neither raised nor reduced female employment share. The negative association between output tariff reductions and female employment appears to be driven by establishments which increased the number of shifts per worker. Since women in India are prohibited by law from working long hours and night shifts, this hours-constraint appears to have reduced relative employment of women. This paper is the first to provide empirical evidence of how an ostensibly pro-women policy of limiting female work hours might have unintended side effects. In order to look at the overall effects of liberalization on the gender employment share, I use Census of India data to create a district level panel. I find that districts which were more exposed to the reforms experienced a reduction in the share of female workers. This was observed for both urban and rural areas.

使用来自行业年度调查的一组机构，我研究了 1991 年印度贸易自由化事件对女性就业份额的影响。与基于品味的歧视模型的预测相反，我发现面临更大的产出关税削减和进口竞争的企业减少了女性工人的比例。我还发现，降低投入品关税既不会提高也不会降低女性就业份额。产出关税降低与女性就业之间的负相关似乎是由增加每个工人轮班次数的机构驱动的。由于印度法律禁止女性长时间工作和上夜班，这种工时限制似乎减少了女性的相对就业。本文首次提供了实证证据，证明表面上支持女性的限制女性工作时间的政策可能会产生意想不到的副作用。为了查看自由化对性别就业份额的总体影响，我使用印度人口普查数据创建了一个地区级面板。我发现受改革影响较大的地区的女工比例有所下降。在城市和农村地区都观察到了这一点。