The paper examines if exports have unequal influence on the work decisions of men and
women using household panel data from the Indonesian Family Life Survey. We construct a
novel measure – the export exposure index – which allows us to estimate the relationship between
exports and the work decisions of individuals even after controlling for household and
province-year fixed effects. Our regression analysis shows that an increase in exports does
not have a statistically significant effect on men, but encourages women to allocate time away
from paid employment towards unpaid house or family work. These results are consistent
with our simple theoretical model which predicts that the relative increase in spousal income
(following an increase in export exposure) strengthens females’ comparative advantage in
unpaid housework and allows them to devote more time to home production.