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Global value chains, firms, and wage inequality: Evidence from China

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  • Wang, Wenxiao
  • Thangavelu, Shandre
  • Lin, Faqin

Abstract

How does participating or moving to more upstream in the global value chains (GVCs) affect the premium paid to skilled compared to unskilled labor within firms? In this paper, we develop a model of heterogeneous firms with intermediate trade and two skill inputs, in which we apply the fair wage hypothesis to predict the wage premium changes according to firms' GVCs activities. The model predicts that firms' backward GVC participation, as measured by the share of foreign value-added content in exports (FVAR), has an ambiguous impact on wage inequality of skills, which depends on the relative importance of “FVAR-labor substitution effect” and “FVAR-profit effect.” However, moving to upstream sectors in GVCs, as measured by the export varieties' upstreamness (or average distance from final use), raises a firm's wage premium. Using detailed Chinese firm-level data from 2000 to 2006, we develop a Mincer-type empirical model to study the wage premium changes associated with FVAR and upstreamness. We find robust empirical evidence that the rise of wage inequality in China mainly arises from moving to more upstream sectors rather than changing GVC participation.

Suggested Citation

  • Wang, Wenxiao & Thangavelu, Shandre & Lin, Faqin, 2021. "Global value chains, firms, and wage inequality: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:chieco:v:66:y:2021:i:c:s1043951x21000031
    DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2021.101585
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    2. Tao Tang & Brayan Tillaguango & Rafael Alvarado & Ximena Songor-Jaramillo & Priscila Méndez & Stefania Pinzón, 2022. "Heterogeneity in the Causal Link between FDI, Globalization and Human Capital: New Empirical Evidence Using Threshold Regressions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-27, July.
    3. Dagmara Nikulin & Joanna Wolszczak-Derlacz & Aleksandra Parteka, 2021. "GVC and wage dispersion. Firm-level evidence from employee–employer database," Equilibrium. Quarterly Journal of Economics and Economic Policy, Institute of Economic Research, vol. 16(2), pages 357-375, June.
    4. Can Li & Qi He & Han Ji & Shengguo Yu & Jiao Wang, 2023. "Reexamining the Impact of Global Value Chain Participation on Regional Economic Growth: New Evidence Based on a Nonlinear Model and Spatial Spillover Effects with Panel Data from Chinese Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-31, September.
    5. repec:gdk:wpaper:71 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Hanmei Zhang, 2024. "The optimized development of China's service industry in the “Belt and Road” regional value chain: A social network analysis," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 83(1), pages 293-323, January.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Global value chains; Firm heterogeneity; FVAR; Upstreamness; Wage inequality;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F12 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Models of Trade with Imperfect Competition and Scale Economies; Fragmentation
    • F16 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Labor Market Interactions
    • F66 - International Economics - - Economic Impacts of Globalization - - - Labor

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