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Victims of Progress: Economic Integration, Specialization and Wages for Unskilled Labour

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Author Info
Francois, Joseph
Nelson, Doug R

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Abstract

In this paper we demonstrate that intra-industry trade (or FDI) between identical countries could produce the observed deterioration in the relative wages of unskilled workers. This involves a model of North-North integration through either increased trade flows or increased MNE-based production. Our motivation in this regard is a series of arguments to the effect that trade cannot be responsible for the observed labour market trends because trade with developing countries is quantitatively too small to have significant labour market effects. We also introduce a relatively unexploited class of model that possesses attractive properties with respect to the explicit incorporation of firm-theoretic considerations in trade models.

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Paper provided by C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers in its series CEPR Discussion Papers with number 2527.

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Date of creation: Aug 2000
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Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:2527

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Related research
Keywords: FDI And Wages Globalization And Employment Trade And Employment Trade And Wages

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration
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

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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.:

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    Other versions:
  18. Richard A. Brecher & Ehsan U. Choudhri, 1994. "Liberalizing Multinational Investment: The Stolper-Samuelson Question Revisited," Carleton Economic Papers 94-06, Carleton University, Department of Economics.
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  21. Krugman, Paul R, 1981. "Intraindustry Specialization and the Gains from Trade," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 89(5), pages 959-73, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  23. Edwards, Brian K & Starr, Ross M, 1987. "A Note on Indivisibilities, Specialization, and Economies of Scale," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 77(1), pages 192-94, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  33. Markusen, James R. & Venables, Anthony J., 1998. "Multinational firms and the new trade theory," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 183-203, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  34. Peter Gottschalk & Timothy M. Smeeding, 1997. "Cross-National Comparisons of Earnings and Income Inequality," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 35(2), pages 633-687, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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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. Joseph Francois, 2004. "Assessing the Impact of Trade Policy on Labor Markets and Production," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 04-058/2, Tinbergen Institute. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Joseph Francois & Kevin Grier & Douglas Nelson, 2004. "Globalization, Roundaboutness, and Relative Wages," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 04-021/2, Tinbergen Institute. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Mehari Mekonnen Akalu, 2002. "Measuring and Ranking Value Drivers," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 02-043/2, Tinbergen Institute. [Downloadable!]
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