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Comparative Advantage and the Cross-Section of Business Cycles

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Author Info
Kraay, Aart
Ventura, Jaume

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Abstract

Business cycles are both less volatile and more synchronized with the world cycle in rich countries than in poor ones. We develop two alternative explanations based on the idea that comparative advantage causes rich countries to specialize in industries that use new technologies operated by skilled workers, while poor countries specialize in industries that use traditional technologies operated by unskilled workers. Since new technologies are difficult to imitate, the industries of rich countries enjoy more market power and face more inelastic product demands than those of poor countries. Since skilled workers are less likely to exit employment as a result of changes in economic conditions, industries in rich countries face more inelastic labour supplies than those of poor countries. We show that each of these asymmetries in industry characteristics can generate cross-country differences in business cycles that resemble those we observe in the data.

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Paper provided by C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers in its series CEPR Discussion Papers with number 3000.

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Date of creation: Oct 2001
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Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:3000

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Keywords: asymmetries comparative advantage labour skills technology

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles

References listed on IDEAS
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  2. Giancarlo Corsetti & Paolo Pesenti, 2001. "Welfare And Macroeconomic Interdependence," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 116(2), pages 421-445, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  3. Obstfeld, Maurice & Rogoff, Kenneth, 1995. "Exchange Rate Dynamics Redux," CEPR Discussion Papers 1131, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  4. Lawrence J. Christiano & Martin Eichenbaum & Charles L. Evans, 1996. "Sticky price and limited participation models of money: a comparison," Staff Report 227, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. [Downloadable!]
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  5. Marianne Baxter, 1995. "International Trade and Business Cycles," NBER Working Papers 5025, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  6. Chinhui Juhn & Kevin M. Murphy & Robert H. Topel, 1992. "Why Has the Natural Rate of Unemployment Increased over Time?," NBER Reprints 1694, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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  7. Kydland, Finn E & Prescott, Edward C, 1982. "Time to Build and Aggregate Fluctuations," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(6), pages 1345-70, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Jeffrey A. Frankel & David Romer, 1999. "Does Trade Cause Growth?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(3), pages 379-399, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Obstfeld, M., 1998. "Risk and Exchange Rate," Papers 193, Princeton, Woodrow Wilson School - Public and International Affairs.
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  10. Kraay, Aart & Ventura, Jaume, 1995. "Trade and fluctuations," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1560, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  11. Acemoglu, Daron & Zilibotti, Fabrizio, 1997. "Was Prometheus Unbound by Chance? Risk, Diversification, and Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 105(4), pages 709-51, August.
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(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. Alejandro Cuñat & Marco Maffezzoli, . "Heckscher-Ohlin Business Cycles," Working Papers 210, IGIER (Innocenzo Gasparini Institute for Economic Research), Bocconi University. [Downloadable!]
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  2. Xavier Gabaix, 2004. "Power laws and the origins of aggregate fluctuations," Econometric Society 2004 North American Summer Meetings 484, Econometric Society. [Downloadable!]
  3. Miklos Koren & Silvana Tenreyro, 2005. "Volatility and Development," CEP Discussion Papers dp0706, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE. [Downloadable!]
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  4. Rose, Andrew K & Spiegel, Mark, 2007. "International Financial Remoteness and Macroeconomic Volatility," CEPR Discussion Papers 6301, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  5. Aart Kraay & Jaume Ventura, 2000. "Product Prices and the OECD Cycle," NBER Working Papers 7788, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  6. Daron Acemoglu & Simon Johnson & James Robinson & Pierre Yared, 2005. "Income and Democracy," NBER Working Papers 11205, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. Luis Catão & Bennett Sutton, 2002. "Sovereign Defaults: The Role of Volatility," IMF Working Papers 02/149, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
  8. Christian Ariel Volpe Martincus & Andrea Molinari, 2005. "Regional Business Cycles and National Economic Borders - What are the Effects of Trade in Developing Countries?," ERSA conference papers ersa05p93, European Regional Science Association. [Downloadable!]
  9. Koren, Miklós & Tenreyro, Silvana, 2007. "Technological Diversification," CEPR Discussion Papers 6523, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  10. Daniel Levy & Hashem Dezhbakhsh, 2004. "International Evidence on Output Fluctuation and Shock Persistence," Macroeconomics 0402016, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
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  11. Daron Acemoglu & Simon Johnson & James Robinson & Yunyong Thaicharoen, 2002. "Institutional Causes, Macroeconomic Symptoms: Volatility, Crises and Growth," NBER Working Papers 9124, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  12. Christian Volpe Martincus & Andrea Molinari, 2007. "Regional Business Cycles and National Economic Borders: What Are the Effects of Trade in Developing Countries?," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer, vol. 143(1), pages 140-178, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Julian di Giovanni & Andrei A. Levchenko, . "Trade Openness and Volatility," Development Working Papers 219, Centro Studi Luca d\'Agliano, University of Milano. [Downloadable!]
  14. Philip R. Lane, 2002. "The Cyclical Behaviour of Fiscal Policy: Evidence from the OECD," Trinity Economics Papers 20022, Trinity College Dublin, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  15. Miklos Koren & Silvana Tenreyro, 2003. "Diversification and development," Working Papers 03-3, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. [Downloadable!]
  16. Geert Bekaert & Campbell R. Harvey & Christian Lundblad, 2004. "Growth Volatility and Financial Liberalization," NBER Working Papers 10560, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  17. Diemo Dietrich, 2004. "Financing FDI into Developing Economies and the International Transmission of Business Cycle Fluctuations," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics (SJES), Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics (SSES), vol. 140(IV), pages 449-481, December. [Downloadable!]
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