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Skill premium and trade puzzles: A solution linking production factors and demand

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  • Thibault FALLY

    (University of Colorado at Boulder)

Abstract

International trade theory is a general-equilibrium discipline, yet most of the standard portfolio of research focuses on the production side of general equilibrium. In addition, we do not have a good understanding of the relationship between characteristics of goods in production and characteristics of preferences. This paper conducts an empirical investigation into the relationship between a good's factor intensity in production and its income elasticity of demand in consumption. In particular, we nd a strong and signicant positive relationship between skilled-labor intensity in production and income-elasticity of demand for several types of preferences, with and without accounting for trade costs and dierences in prices. Counter-factual simulations yield a number of results. We can explain one third or more of "missing trade", and show an important role for per-capita income in understanding trade/GDP ratios, the choice of trading partners, and the composition of trade. Furthermore, an equal rise in productivity in all sectors in all countries leads to a rising skill premium in all countries, with particularly large increases in developing countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Thibault FALLY, 2012. "Skill premium and trade puzzles: A solution linking production factors and demand," 2012 Meeting Papers 1189, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    • Handle: RePEc:red:sed012:1189
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    Cited by:

    1. Justin Caron & Thibault Fally & James Markusen, 2021. "Per capita income and the demand for skills," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: BROADENING TRADE THEORY Incorporating Market Realities into Traditional Models, chapter 12, pages 251-268, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    2. David Atkin & Benjamin Faber & Marco Gonzalez-Navarro, 2018. "Retail Globalization and Household Welfare: Evidence from Mexico," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 126(1), pages 1-73.

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