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Human Capital, Exports, and Earnings

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  • Marcel Fafchamps

Abstract

This study tests whether manufacturing exporters pay more to educated workers in an effort to ascertain whether the productivity of human capital is raised by exports. Using a panel of matched employer-employee data from Morocco, we find no evidence that the education wage premium is higher in exporting sectors and firms. Although exporters pay more on average, much of the wage differential can be explained by the fact that exporters have a larger workforce and more capital. Educated workers who start working for an exporter do not experience a larger wage increase relative to their previous job. We find a mild positive association between exports, technology, and product quality, part of which is due to differences in firm size. We discuss why our results differ from those obtained using different countries and methodologies. (c) 2009 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.

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  • Marcel Fafchamps, 2009. "Human Capital, Exports, and Earnings," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 58(1), pages 111-141, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:ecdecc:v:58:y:2009:i:1:p:111-141
    DOI: 10.1086/604721
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    Cited by:

    1. Carli Bezuidenhout & Marianne Matthee & Neil Rankin, 2021. "Exporting and the wage premium: The case of South African manufacturing firms," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(4), pages 2031-2051, November.
    2. Rauch, James E., 2010. "Development through synergistic reforms," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(2), pages 153-161, November.
    3. Victor Stolzenburg & Marianne Matthee & Caro Janse van Rensburg & Carli Bezuidenhout, . "Foreign direct investment and gender inequality: evidence from South Africa," UNCTAD Transnational Corporations Journal, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
    4. Joachim Wagner, 2016. "International Trade and Firm Performance: A Survey of Empirical Studies since 2006," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Microeconometrics of International Trade, chapter 2, pages 43-87, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    5. Sarra Ben Yahmed, 2012. "Gender Wage Gaps across Skills and Trade Openness," Working Papers halshs-00793559, HAL.
    6. Sarra Ben Yahmed, 2012. "Gender Wage Gaps across Skills and Trade Openness," AMSE Working Papers 1232, Aix-Marseille School of Economics, France, revised Nov 2012.
    7. Emmanuel Orkoh & Derick Blaauw & Carike Claassen, 2022. "The trade openness–gender wage differential nexus: Household‐level evidence from Ghana," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(1), pages 156-179, February.
    8. Marco Grazzi & Nanditha Mathew & Daniele Moschella, 2021. "Making one’s own way: jumping ahead in the capability space and exporting among Indian firms," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 31(3), pages 931-957, July.

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