IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/reviec/v15y2007i1p45-61.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Trade, Wages, and Specific Factors

Author

Listed:
  • Indro Dasgupta
  • Thomas Osang

Abstract

In this paper, we use a multisector specific‐factors model with sector‐specific capital and two mobile factors, skilled and unskilled labor, to examine the effects of trade, technology, and factor endowments on the skill premium in US manufacturing industries. Based on this model and data for the US manufacturing sector from 1958–96, we calculate changes in the skill premium and then carry out a decomposition to identify the changes caused by product price changes (trade), technological progress, labor, and capital endowment changes. The decomposition reveals that trade effects, working through product price changes, caused the skill premium to increase moderately. Changes in capital endowments (new investments) had a positive effect on the skill premium, with the strongest impact during the 1980s, while the effect of technological change on the skill premium varied over time. Finally, changes in relative labor endowments had a negative effect on the skill premium.

Suggested Citation

  • Indro Dasgupta & Thomas Osang, 2007. "Trade, Wages, and Specific Factors," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(1), pages 45-61, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:reviec:v:15:y:2007:i:1:p:45-61
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9396.2007.00693.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9396.2007.00693.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1467-9396.2007.00693.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Eric J. Bartelsman & Wayne Gray, 1996. "The NBER Manufacturing Productivity Database," NBER Technical Working Papers 0205, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Alan B. Krueger, 1997. "Labor Market Shifts and the Price Puzzle Revisited," Working Papers 754, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    3. Alan Krueger, 1997. "Labor Market Shifts and the Price Puzzle Revisited," Working Papers 754, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    4. repec:fth:prinin:375 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. William R. Cline, 1997. "Trade and Income Distribution," Peterson Institute Press: All Books, Peterson Institute for International Economics, number 58, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Thompson, Alexi & Thompson, Henry, 2023. "Addendum: The imputed effects of US tariffs on wages," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 564-569.
    2. Henry Thompson & John Francis, 2009. "Tariff Elimination and the Wage Gap in an Industrial Specific Factors Model," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(3), pages 447-460, August.
    3. Wang-Sheng Lee, 2007. "Immigration and Wages: An Open Economy Model," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2007n07, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Robert Feenstra & Gordon Hanson, 2001. "Global Production Sharing and Rising Inequality: A Survey of Trade and Wages," NBER Working Papers 8372, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Dasgupta, Indro & Osang, Thomas, 2002. "Globalization and relative wages: further evidence from U.S. manufacturing industries," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 11(1), pages 1-16, April.
    3. repec:eee:labchp:v:3:y:1999:i:pb:p:2215-2288 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Gonzaga, Gustavo & Menezes Filho, Naercio & Terra, Cristina, 2006. "Trade liberalization and the evolution of skill earnings differentials in Brazil," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 345-367, March.
    5. Gonzaga, Gustavo & Terra, Cristina & Muriel Hernandez, Beatriz, 2014. "Wage Differentials: Trade Openness and Wage Bargaining," Brazilian Review of Econometrics, Sociedade Brasileira de Econometria - SBE, vol. 34(1), March.
    6. Paolo Epifani & Gino Gancia, 2008. "The Skill Bias of World Trade," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 118(530), pages 927-960, July.
    7. James Harrigan & Rita Balaban, 1999. "U.S. Wages in General Equilibrium: The Effects of Prices, Technology, and Factor Supplies, 1963-1991," NBER Working Papers 6981, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Leonardi, Marco, 2002. "Product Demand Shifts and Wage Inequality," Royal Economic Society Annual Conference 2002 125, Royal Economic Society.
    9. Robert C. Feenstra & Gordon H. Hanson & Deborah L. Swenson, 2000. "Offshore Assembly from the United States: Production Characteristics of the 9802 Program," NBER Chapters, in: The Impact of International Trade on Wages, pages 85-125, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Daron Acemoglu, 2003. "Patterns of Skill Premia," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 70(2), pages 199-230.
    11. Matthew J. Slaughter, 1998. "What Are the Results of Product-Price Studies and What Can We Learn From Their Differences?," NBER Working Papers 6591, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Mita Bhattacharya & Kien Trung Nguyen, 2019. "Trade liberalization and the wage–skill premium: Evidence from Vietnamese manufacturing," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(2), pages 519-540, February.
    13. Hirsch, Barry T & Macpherson, David A, 2000. "Earnings, Rents, and Competition in the Airline Labor Market," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 18(1), pages 125-155, January.
    14. Esquivel, Gerardo & Rodriguez-Lopez, Jose Antonio, 2003. "Technology, trade, and wage inequality in Mexico before and after NAFTA," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(2), pages 543-565, December.
    15. Arai, Yoichi & Ichimura, Hidehiko & Kawaguchi, Daiji, 2015. "The educational upgrading of Japanese youth, 1982–2007: Are all Japanese youth ready for structural reforms?," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 100-126.
    16. Dumont, Michel, 2004. "The Impact of International Trade with Newly Industrialised Countries on the Wages and Employment of Low-Skilled and High-Skilled Workers in the European Union," Thesis Commons bmxag, Center for Open Science.
    17. Robertson, Raymond, 2004. "Relative prices and wage inequality: evidence from Mexico," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 387-409, December.
    18. Gerardo Esquivel & Graciela Márquez, 2007. "Some Economic Effects of Closing the Economy: The Mexican Experience in the Mid-Twentieth Century," NBER Chapters, in: The Decline of Latin American Economies: Growth, Institutions, and Crises, pages 333-362, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Kuang-Chung Hsu & Yungho Weng, 2018. "Detecting which firm-specific characteristics impact market-oriented R&D," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 55(4), pages 1695-1715, December.
    20. Greenaway, David & Nelson, Douglas, 2000. "The Assessment: Globalization and Labour-Market Adjustment," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 16(3), pages 1-11, Autumn.
    21. Afonso, Oscar, 2013. "Diffusion and directed technological knowledge, human capital and wages," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 370-382.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:reviec:v:15:y:2007:i:1:p:45-61. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0965-7576 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.