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Trade and the Skill-bias - It's not how much, but with whom, you trade

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Author Info
Pushan Dutt () (INSEAD, Singapore)
Daniel Traca () (Centre Emile Bernheim, Solvay Business School, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels)

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Abstract

This paper explores the hypothesis that changes in trading patterns and partners of US industries have contributed to skill deepening through defensive, skill-biased innovation. It draws on Thoenig and Verdier's (2003) assertion that, since skill-intensive technologies are less likely to be imitated, increased exposure to international competition promotes skill-biased innovation, due to the rise in the intensity of imitation by foreign firms. Our main proposition is that the rate of growth of a trading partner is related to the intensity of imitation from firms operating in that country, implying that an increase in the rate of growth of an industry's representative trading partner should contribute to the rise in its skill-intensity. We find empirical evidence in support of this notion, showing that the rise in the average growth rate of the trading partners has contributed to about 20% of the skilldeepening within US industries. By contrast, we find evidence that measures of the volume of trade do not matter significantly for the rise in skill-intensity, in line with existing literature.

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File URL: http://www.solvay.edu/EN/Research/Bernheim/documents/wp05010.pdf
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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Université Libre de Bruxelles, Solvay Business School, Centre Emile Bernheim (CEB) in its series Working Papers CEB with number 05-010.RS.

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Length: 2 pages
Date of creation: Sep 2005
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Handle: RePEc:sol:wpaper:05-010

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Related research
Keywords: Trade and Wages Skill Bias Defensive Innovation.

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Country and Industry Studies of Trade
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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References listed on IDEAS
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  2. Josh Lerner, 2002. "150 Years of Patent Protection," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(2), pages 221-225, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Bernard, Andrew B. & Jensen, J. Bradford, 1997. "Exporters, skill upgrading, and the wage gap," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(1-2), pages 3-31, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. Eric J. Bartelsman & Wayne Gray, 1996. "The NBER Manufacturing Productivity Database," NBER Technical Working Papers 0205, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Robert E. Baldwin & Glen G. Cain, 2000. "Shifts In Relative U.S. Wages: The Role Of Trade, Technology, And Factor Endowments," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 82(4), pages 580-595, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Robert C. Feenstra & Gordon H. Hanson, 1996. "Globalization, Outsourcing, and Wage Inequality," NBER Working Papers 5424, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [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. David H. Autor & Lawrence F. Katz & Alan B. Krueger, 1998. "Computing Inequality: Have Computers Changed The Labor Market?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 113(4), pages 1169-1213, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Wood, Adrian, 1998. "Globalisation and the Rise in Labour Market Inequalities," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 108(450), pages 1463-82, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Haskel, Jonathan & Slaughter, Matthew J, 2001. "Trade, Technology and U.K. Wage Inequality," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 111(468), pages 163-87, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  11. Acemoglu, Daron, 2002. "Directed Technical Change," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 69(4), pages 781-809, October.
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  12. Krugman, Paul R., 2000. "Technology, trade and factor prices," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 51-71, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  13. Wood, Adrian, 1995. "How Trade Hurt Unskilled Workers," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 9(3), pages 57-80, Summer. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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