Agricultural export booms can reshape local labor markets and expand formal employment opportunities for women. Yet little is known about their effects on intimate partner violence (IPV). We focus on the blueberry export industry in Peru, which disproportionately increased female labor demand, and estimate the causal effects of blueberry exports on IPV and related outcomes. We combine household data from the DHS with firm-level export data and leverage variation in blueberry farm openings and export quantities across space and time to identify causal effects. We find that exposure to blueberry exports significantly reduces the prevalence of IPV. We provide evidence that these results operate through improvements in the quality of women’s employment, with blueberry expansion shifting women from informal to formal jobs and increasing their earnings relative to their partners. These labor market gains are accompanied by improvements in household decision-making and higher divorce rates, consistent with a bargaining power mechanism.
