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Vulnerable Jobs and the Wage Effects of Import Competition

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  • Abigail Cooke
  • Tom Kemeny
  • David Rigby

Abstract

Do job characteristics modulate the relationship between import competition and workers’ wages? Using pooled cross‐sectional, linked employee‐establishment Census Bureau microdata and O*NET occupational characteristics, the paper models import competition and wages for more than 1.6 million individuals, grouped by job vulnerability defined by routineness, analytic complexity, and interpersonal interaction. Results show import competition is associated with wages that are: lower in routine and less complex jobs; higher in nonroutine and complex jobs; and higher for the highest and lowest levels of interpersonal interaction. This demonstrates the importance of accounting for occupational characteristics in understanding how trade and wages relate.

Suggested Citation

  • Abigail Cooke & Tom Kemeny & David Rigby, 2019. "Vulnerable Jobs and the Wage Effects of Import Competition," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(3), pages 484-521, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:indres:v:58:y:2019:i:3:p:484-521
    DOI: 10.1111/irel.12240
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    1. Emelie Hane-Weijman & Rikard H. Eriksson & David Rigby, 2020. "How do occupational relatedness and complexity condition employment dynamics in periods of growth and recession?," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 2011, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Mar 2020.

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