Exporters, Importers and Two-way Traders: the Links between Internationalization, Skills and Wages

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Exporters, Importers and Two-way Traders: the Links between Internationalization, Skills and Wages

Author Info

Francesco Serti () (Scuola Superiore S. Anna, Pisa)
Chiara Tomasi () (Scuola Superiore S. Anna, Pisa & Università di Urbino)
Antonello Zanfei () (Istituto di Scienze Economiche, Università degli Studi di Urbino "Carlo Bo")

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Abstract

How do trade activities affect firms’ employment and wages structures? Using firm level data on Italian manufacturing firms, this paper adds to the existing literature, by assessing how the degree of involvement in international trade impacts on workforce composition, earning levels and wage inequality. We differentiate firms involved in both trading activities - namely two-way traders - from firms that only export, and from those that only import. We show that two-way traders have a higher propensity to employ non-production workers, exhibit significant wage gaps, but also pay higher wages for both production and non production workers, relative to non internationalized firms and to firms which are involved only in either export or import. The paper also looks at how the wages and the skill structure of the trading firms change with the country of destination and origin and with the firms’ sectoral and geographical diversification.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Department of Economics in its series Working Papers with number 0713.

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Length: 35 pages
Date of creation: 2007
Date of revision: 2007
Handle: RePEc:urb:wpaper:07_13

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Paper
- Francesco Serti & Chiara Tomasi & Antonello Zanfei, 2008. "Exporters, Importers and Two-way traders: The links between internationalization, skills and wage," LEM Papers Series 2008/05, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy. [Downloadable!]

Find related papers by JEL classification:
F10 - International Economics - - Trade - - - General
F16 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Labor Market Interactions
J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

NEP-ALL-2007-11-17 (All new papers)
NEP-INT-2007-11-17 (International Trade)
NEP-LAB-2007-11-17 (Labour Economics)

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.:

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Other versions:
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repec:rus:hseeco:122439 is not listed on IDEAS
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Other versions:
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Other versions:
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