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The Health Toll of Import Competition

Author

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  • Adda, Jérôme

    (Bocconi University)

  • Fawaz, Yarine

    (CEMFI, Madrid)

Abstract

This paper assesses the effect of import competition on the labor market and health outcomes of US workers. We first show that import shocks affect employment and income, but only in areas where jobs are more intense in routine tasks. Exploiting over 40 million individual observations on health and mortality, we find that import had a detrimental effect on physical and mental health that is concentrated in those areas and exhibits strong persistence. It decreased health care utilisation and increased hospitalisation for a large set of conditions, more difficult to treat. The mortality hazard of workers in manufacturing increased by up to 6 percent per billion dollar import increase.

Suggested Citation

  • Adda, Jérôme & Fawaz, Yarine, 2020. "The Health Toll of Import Competition," IZA Discussion Papers 12924, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12924
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    3. Xinming Du & Lei Li & Eric Zou, 2024. "Trade, Trees, and Lives," Papers 2411.13516, arXiv.org.
    4. Dorn, David & Levell, Peter, 2021. "Trade and Inequality in Europe and the US," CEPR Discussion Papers 16780, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
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    6. Furtado, Delia & Kong, Haiyang, 2024. "How do low-education immigrants adjust to Chinese import shocks? Evidence using English language proficiency," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    7. Feng, Jin & Wang, Zitai & Xie, Qiang, 2023. "Does trade liberalization improve child health? Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    8. Abeliansky, Ana Lucia & Beulmann, Matthias & Prettner, Klaus, 2024. "Are they coming for us? Industrial robots and the mental health of workers," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(3).
    9. Yiping Sun & Chengjun Wu & Xiaoming Zhu & Pingguan Bian, 2022. "China’s Accession to the WTO as a Shock to Residents’ Health—A Difference-in-Difference Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-18, November.
    10. Hasan, Iftekhar & Krause, Thomas & Manfredonia, Stefano & Noth, Felix, 2022. "Banking market deregulation and mortality inequality," Bank of Finland Research Discussion Papers 14/2022, Bank of Finland.
    11. Vrolijk, Kasper, 2023. "How does globalisation affect social cohesion?," IDOS Discussion Papers 5/2023, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).
    12. Lina Baranauskaitė & Daiva Jurevičienė, 2021. "Import Risks of Agricultural Products in Foreign Trade," Economies, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-15, July.
    13. HAYAKAWA Kazunobu & ITO Tadashi & URATA Shujiro, 2022. "Impacts of Increased Chinese Imports on Japan’s Labor Market: Firm and Regional Aspects," Discussion papers 22037, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    14. Charris, Carlos & Branco, Danyelle & Carrillo, Bladimir, 2024. "Economic shocks and infant health: Evidence from a trade reform in Brazil," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    15. Cosimo Beverelli & Rohit Ticku, 2023. "Global Livestock Trade and Infectious Diseases," RSCAS Working Papers 2023/09, European University Institute.
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    18. O'Brien, Rourke & Bair, Elizabeth F. & Venkataramani, Atheendar S., 2022. "Death by Robots? Automation and Working-Age Mortality in the United States," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 59(2), pages 607-628.
    19. HAYAKAWA Kazunobu & URATA Shujiro & YAMANOUCHI Kenta, 2022. "Import Competition from China and Markup Dispersion," Discussion papers 22031, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    20. Wang, Rui & Lin, Faqin & Feng, Kuo, 2024. "Soybean overweight shock (SOS): The impact of trade liberalization in China on overweight prevalence," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    health behaviour; health; routine tasks; import competition; hospitalisation; mortality;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F16 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Labor Market Interactions
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

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