This file is part of IDEAS, which uses RePEc data


[ Papers | Articles | Software | Books | Chapters | Authors | Institutions | JEL Classification | NEP reports | Search | New papers by email | Author registration | Rankings | Volunteers | FAQ | Blog | Help! ]

Trade, Wages, and Superstars

Author info | Abstract | Publisher info | Download info | Related research | Statistics
Author Info
Manasse, Paolo
Turrini, Alessandro Antonio

Additional information is available for the following registered author(s):

Abstract

We study the effect of 'globalization' on wage inequality. Our 'global' economy resembles Rosen's (1981) 'Superstars' economy, where a) innovations in production and communication technologies enable suppliers to reach a larger mass of consumers and to improve the (perceived) quality of their products and b) trade barriers fall. When transport costs fall, income is redistributed away from the non-exporting to the exporting sector of the economy. As the former turns out to employ workers of higher skill and pay, the effect is to raise wage inequality. Whether the least skilled stand to lose or gain from improved production or communication technologies, in contrast, depends on whether technology is skill-complementary, or a substitute. The model gives an intuitive explanation for the empirical regularities that skill intensity, market size and wages tend to be positively associated with exporting activity across sectors and plants.

Download Info
To download:

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. Information about this may be contained in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.

File URL: http://www.cepr.org/pubs/dps/DP2262.asp
File Format: application/pdf
File Function:
Download Restriction: CEPR Discussion Papers are free to download for our researchers, subscribers and members. If you fall into one of these categories but have trouble downloading our papers, please contact us at subscribers@cepr.org

As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version under "Related research" (further below) or search for a different version of it.

Publisher Info
Paper provided by C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers in its series CEPR Discussion Papers with number 2262.

Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML (with abstract), plain text (with abstract), BibTeX, RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite), ReDIF
Length:
Date of creation: Oct 1999
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:2262

Contact details of provider:
Postal: Centre for Economic Policy Research, 53--56 Great Sutton Street, London EC1V 0DG
Phone: 44 - 20 - 7183 8801
Fax: 44 - 20 - 7183 8820

Order Information:
Email:

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: ().

Related research
Keywords: International Trade; Technological Change; Wage Inequality;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
F12 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Models of Trade with Imperfect Competition and Scale Economies
F16 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Labor Market Interactions
J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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. Krugman, Paul, 1980. "Scale Economies, Product Differentiation, and the Pattern of Trade," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 70(5), pages 950-59, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Gene M. Grossman & Giovanni Maggi, 1998. "Diversity and Trade," NBER Working Papers 6741, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Brian J. Hall & Jeffrey B. Liebman, 1998. "Are CEOs Really Paid Like Bureaucrats?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 113(3), pages 653-691, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. Bernard, Andrew B. & Bradford Jensen, J., 1999. "Exceptional exporter performance: cause, effect, or both?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 1-25, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  5. Rosen, Sherwin, 1981. "The Economics of Superstars," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 71(5), pages 845-58, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Roberts, Mark J & Tybout, James R, 1997. "The Decision to Export in Colombia: An Empirical Model of Entry with Sunk Costs," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(4), pages 545-64, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Andrew B. Bernard & Joachim Wagner, 1998. "Export Entry and Exit by German Firms," NBER Working Papers 6538, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  8. Smith, Alasdair & Venables, Anthony J., 1991. "Economic integration and market access," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(2-3), pages 388-395, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  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. Grossmann, G.M. & Maggi, G., 1998. "Diversity and Trade," Papers 192, Princeton, Woodrow Wilson School - Public and International Affairs.
  11. Juhn, Chinhui & Murphy, Kevin M & Pierce, Brooks, 1993. "Wage Inequality and the Rise in Returns to Skill," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(3), pages 410-42, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Full references

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. Paolo Epifani, 2002. "Trade Liberalization, Firm Performance and Labor Market Outcomes in the Developing World What Can We Learn From Micro-Level Data?," CESPRI Working Papers 138, CESPRI, Centre for Research on Innovation and Internationalisation, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy, revised Feb 2003. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Paolo Epifani & Gino Gancia, 2004. "The Skill Bias of World Trade," Economics Working Papers 833, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, revised Mar 2007. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Peter J. Kuhn & Carol McAusland, 2006. "The International Migration of Knowledge Workers: When is Brain Drain Beneficial?," NBER Working Papers 12761, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. Rosario Crinò & Paolo Epifani, 2009. "Export Intensity and Productivity," Development Working Papers 271, Centro Studi Luca d\'Agliano, University of Milano. [Downloadable!]
  5. Monte, Ferdinando, 2009. "Skill Bias, Trade, and Wage Dispersion," MPRA Paper 14719, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 06 Oct 2009. [Downloadable!]
  6. Paolo Manasse & Luca Stanca, 2002. "Working on the Train: Technology, Trade and Wages in Italian Manufacturing," Working Papers 61, University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics, revised Nov 2002. [Downloadable!]
  7. Mori Mori, Tomoya & Turrini, Alessandro Antonio, 2000. "Skills, Agglomeration and Segmentation," CEPR Discussion Papers 2645, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  8. Verhoogen, Eric A., 2007. "Trade, Quality Upgrading and Wage Inequality in the Mexican Manufacturing Sector," CEPR Discussion Papers 6385, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  9. P. Manasse & L. Stanca & A. Turrini, 2001. "Wage Premia and Skill Upgrading in Italy: Why didn't the Hound Bark?," Working Papers 423, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  10. Valeria Gattai, 2006. "From the Theory of the Firm to FDI and Internalisation: A Survey," Giornale degli Economisti, GDE (Giornale degli Economisti e Annali di Economia), Bocconi University, vol. 65(2), pages 225-262, November. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  11. Hartmut Egger & Udo Kreickemeier, 2008. "Fairness, Trade, and Inequality," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  12. Roine, Jesper & Waldenström, Daniel, 2009. "Common Trends and Shocks to Top Incomes – A Structural Breaks Approach," Working Paper Series 801, Research Institute of Industrial Economics. [Downloadable!]
  13. Heshmati, Almas, 2005. "The Relationship between Income Inequality, Poverty, and Globalization," Working Papers RP2005/37, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  14. Gersbach, Hans & Schmutzler, Armin, 2007. "Does Globalization Create Superstars?," CEPR Discussion Papers 6222, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  15. Pranab Bardhan, 2009. "Middlemen Margins and Globalization," Working Papers id:2202, esocialsciences.com. [Downloadable!]
  16. Alcala Agullo, Francisco & Hernández Martínez, Pedro Jesús, 2006. "Firms’ Main Market, Human Capital, and Wages," Annals of Computational Economics 4102, Murcia University, DIGITUM. Universidad de Murcia. [Downloadable!]
  17. Yasuhiro Sato & Kazuhiro Yamamoto, 2007. "Trade impacts on skill formation: welfare improvements accompanied by rises in inequality," Discussion Papers in Economics and Business 07-12, Osaka University, Graduate School of Economics and Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP). [Downloadable!]
Statistics
Access and download statistics

Did you know? The yearly budget of IDEAS is exactly $0: it relies entirely on volunteer work.

This page was last updated on 2009-11-25.

This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Connecticut using RePEc data on a server sponsored by the Society for Economic Dynamics.