Relationship Among Trade in Services, Female Immigration and Gender Income Inequality: A Literature Review

Abstract

Over the past few decades, trade in services, female immigration, and gender income inequality have emerged as significant components of the global economy, with important interrelated implications. While scientific literature includes a growing body of research examining the links among these three domains, a substantial research gap persists. In particular, limited attention has been paid to their joint analysis. This systematic literature review aims to cover this gap by synthesizing the existing scientific literature and focusing on the interrelationships among trade in services, female immigration, and gender income inequality. The review provides a structured synthesis of empirical evidence, methodological approaches, types of data, directions of the examined relationships, and country samples, while also identifying key research gaps. The findings reveal a notable lack of integrated empirical studies that simultaneously examine the relationships among trade in services, female immigration, and gender income inequality within a unified econometric framework. Moreover, the existing literature predominantly relies on single-country analyses and exhibits limited use of advanced econometric techniques. Finally, this study contributes to the literature by highlighting directions for future research, including the adoption of more advanced econometric methods and the use of diverse, multi-country samples to examine potential bidirectional relationships among trade in services, female immigration, and gender income inequality.