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Trade, Technology and UK Wage Inequality

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Author Info
Haskel, Jonathan
Slaughter, Matthew

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Abstract

The U.K. skill premium fell from the 1950s to the late 1970s and then rose very sharply. This paper examines the contributions to these relative wage movements of international trade and technical change. We first measure trade as changes in product prices and technical change as TFP growth. Then we relate price and TFP changes to a set of underlying factors. Among a number of results, we find that changes in prices, not TFP, were the major force behind the rise in inequality in the 1980s. We also find that although increased trade pressure has raised technical change, its effect on wage inequality was not quantitatively significant.

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Paper provided by C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers in its series CEPR Discussion Papers with number 2091.

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Date of creation: Mar 1999
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Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:2091

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Keywords: Technology Trade Wage Inequality

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
F1 - International Economics - - Trade
J3 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs
O3 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Technological Change

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

  1. Haskel, Jonathan & Slaughter, Matthew, 1998. "Does the Sector Bias of Skill-Biased Technical Change Explain Changing Wage Inequality?," CEPR Discussion Papers 1940, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  2. R. E. Baldwin & G. G. Cain, . "Shifts in U.S. Relative Wages: The Role of Trade, Technology, and Factor Endowments," Institute for Research on Poverty Discussion Papers 1132-97, University of Wisconsin Institute for Research on Poverty. [Downloadable!]
  3. Paul Geroski & Steve Machin & John Van Reenen, 1993. "The Profitability of Innovating Firms," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 24(2), pages 198-211, Summer. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Robert E. Baldwin & Glen G. Cain, 1997. "Shifts in U.S. Relative Wages: The Role of Trade, Technology and Factor Endowments," NBER Working Papers 5934, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Haskel, Jonathan, 1991. "Imperfect Competition, Work Practices and Productivity Growth," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 53(3), pages 265-79, August.
  6. Machin, Steve, 1994. "Changes in the Relative Demand for Skills in the UK Labour Market," CEPR Discussion Papers 952, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. Berman, Eli & Bound, John & Griliches, Zvi, 1994. "Changes in the Demand for Skilled Labor within U.S. Manufacturing: Evidence from the Annual Survey of Manufactures," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 109(2), pages 367-97, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Nickell, Stephen J, 1996. "Competition and Corporate Performance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 104(4), pages 724-46, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Freeman, Richard B, 1995. "Are Your Wages Set in Beijing?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 9(3), pages 15-32, Summer. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Stephen Machin & John Van Reenen, 1998. "Technology and changes in skill structure: evidence from seven OECD countries," IFS Working Papers W98/04, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
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  11. Desjonqueres, Thibaut & Machin, Stephen & Van Reenen, John, 1999. " Another Nail in the Coffin? Or Can the Trade Based Explanation of Changing Skill Structures Be Resurrected?," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 101(4), pages 533-54, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Wood, Adrian, 1995. "How Trade Hurt Unskilled Workers," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 9(3), pages 57-80, Summer. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Baldwin, Robert E & Cain, Glen C, 1997. "Shifts in US Relative Wages: The Role of Trade, Technology and Factor Endowments," CEPR Discussion Papers 1596, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Neven, Damien J & Wyplosz, Charles, 1996. "Relative Prices, Trade and Restructuring in European Industry," CEPR Discussion Papers 1451, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Daniel Ortega & Francisco Rodríguez, 2005. "Trade Policy and Factor Prices: An Empirical Strategy," Wesleyan Economics Working Papers 2005-004, Wesleyan University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  2. L. Cuyvers & M. Dumont & G. Rayp & K. Stevens, 2002. "Home Employment Effects of EU Firms' Activities in Central and Eastern European Countries," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 02/158, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration. [Downloadable!]
  3. Lisandro Abrego & John Whalley, 2002. "Decomposing Wage Inequality Change Using General Equilibrium Models," NBER Working Papers 9184, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. Hijzen, Alexander & Görg, Holger & Hine, Robert C., 2003. "International Fragmentation and Relative Wages in the UK," IZA Discussion Papers 717, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  5. Nicholas Apergis & Stephen M. Miller, 2007. "Total Factor Productivity and Monetary Policy: Evidence from Conditional Volatility," Working papers 2007-06, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Daniel Fernandez Kranz, 2006. "Why has wage inequality increased more in the USA than in Europe? An empirical investigation of the demand and supply of skill," Applied Economics, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 38(7), pages 771-788, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Lisandro Abrego & John Whalley, 2000. "Demand Side Considerations and the Trade and Wages Debate," NBER Working Papers 7674, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Bernard, Andrew & Redding, Stephen J & Schott, Peter & Simpson, Helen, 2002. "Factor Price Equalization in the UK?," CEPR Discussion Papers 3523, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  9. Willy W. Cortez, 2005. "Dispersión y Estabilidad de las Diferencias Salariales interestatales en México, 1984-2000," Development and Comp Systems 0502014, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
  10. Alexander Hijzen & Holger Görg & Robert C. Hine, 2004. "International Outsourcing and the Skill Structure of Labour Demand in the United Kingdom," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 437, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  11. Rana Hasan & Devashish Mitra & K.V. Ramaswamy, 2003. "Trade Reforms, Labor Regulations and Labor-Demand Elasticities: Empirical Evidence from India," Economics Study Area Working Papers 59, East-West Center, Economics Study Area. [Downloadable!]
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  12. Zeljko Bogetic & Johannes Fedderke, 2005. "Infrastructure and Growth in South Africa: Benchmarking, Productivity and Investment Needs, paper presented at Economic Society of South Africa (ESSA) Conference, Durban, 9/7-9/2005," Public Economics 0510006, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
  13. Dutt, Pushan & Traca, Daniel A., 2005. "Trade and the Skill-Bias - It's Not How Much, But With Whom You Trade," CEPR Discussion Papers 5263, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  14. Goldberg, Pinelopi Koujianou & Pavcnik, Nina, 2003. "Trade, Wages and the Political Economy of Trade Protection: Evidence from the Colombian Trade Reforms," CEPR Discussion Papers 3877, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Jonathan E. Haskel & Matthew J. Slaughter, 2000. "Have Falling Tariffs and Transportation Costs Raised U.S. Wage Inequality?," NBER Working Papers 7539, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  16. M. Dumont & G. Rayp & P. Willemé & O. Thas, 2003. "Correcting Standard Errors in Two-Stage Estimation Procedures with Generated Regressands," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 03/172, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration. [Downloadable!]
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  17. Jorge Saba Arbache, 2001. "Trade Liberalisation and Labor Markets in Developing Countries: Theory and Evidence," Studies in Economics 0112, Department of Economics, University of Kent. [Downloadable!]
  18. Haskel, Jonathan, 2000. "The Trade and Labour Approaches to Wage Inequality," CEPR Discussion Papers 2476, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  19. Lisandro Abrego & John Whalley, 1999. "The Choice of Structural Model in Trade-Wages Decompositions," NBER Working Papers 7312, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  20. Marilza Pereira Valentine & Erik Alencar de Figueiredo & Sinézio Fernades Maia & Adriano Nascimento da Paixão, 2003. "Impactos da Política Monetária Sobre os Níveis de Emprego no Brasil Pós-Plano Real: uma Abordagem Quantitativa," Anais do XXXI Encontro Nacional de Economia [Proceedings of the 31th Brazilian Economics Meeting] f07, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pósgraduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics]. [Downloadable!]
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