Trade, Labour Markets and Health

This project is about how trade policies impact health. As many studies have documented, international trade can impact health by affecting people's access to medicines or by influencing the availability of unhealthy products like tobacco and processed foods. Trade can also impact health by changing employment and working conditions, but little is known about this second type of health impact. This project seeks to increase our knowledge in this area. Drawing on research from public health and other disciplines such as economics and sociology, this project will develop a theoretical framework that explains the relationships between trade, employment, and health. Three studies will then be undertaken to provide evidence of these relationships. One study will be based on U.S. data, one will be based on Norwegian data, and one will be based on Mexican data. The studies will look at specific instances where trade has caused changes in employment and will examine whether these changes have affected health. One of the main questions the project aims to answer is whether social policies, like unemployment benefits, buffer the health impacts of trade. The results from these studies will be used to further elaborate the theoretical framework and to produce policy briefs which will be circulated to civil society groups and policy makers. These findings are especially relevant in light of the increasing number of trade agreements that are being signed or are under negotiation. The project is based the International Centre for Global Health Inequalities Research (CHAIN), at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

Previous research into the health impacts of trade has been limited by a focus on healthcare and individual lifestyle factors, like smoking. This is despite the fact that trade's impact on employment and working conditions is a major point of contention in public debates. Meanwhile, public health literature has convincingly demonstrated the importance of social protection (like unemployment insurance) and labour market conditions for health, but has not considered the role of trade in influencing these conditions. This project, therefore, seeks to generate new knowledge about how trade impacts health through labour market and social protection pathways. Bringing these two, previously independent, research areas together represents a step-change in the field. The nature of the relationship between trade and health is undoubtedly complex. To tame this complexity, the project undertakes a three-step methodological approach and draws on expertise in key international and national research networks. In the first step, a theoretical framework outlining the relationships between trade, labour markets, and health will be developed by drawing on well-established social epidemiological theories. In the second step, three natural policy experiments will be undertaken to provide new empirical evidence of these relationships. In the third step, we will synthesize findings from these studies and examine them in relation to the originally devised framework. This work will then be used to produce policy briefs which will be widely disseminated to civil society groups, governments and policy decision makers. Each step of the project will be enriched by the project's extensive links to national and international research and policy networks and through its institutional basis in an emerging global health research centre (CHAIN). For these reasons the project's potential for societal impact, and to make significant contributions to theoretical and scientific knowledge, is very high.