Eugene Beauliue (Univeristy of Calgary & International Trade Canada) Ravi Yatawara (University of Delaware) Wei Guo Wang (University of Calgary)
Abstract
This paper examines individual trade policy preferences across the 17 countries in Latin America. The focus is on whether skilled or unskilled workers are more likely to support liberalized trade and on whether country characteristics, such as factor endowments, alter the preferences of skilled and unskilled workers. Based on the standard Heckscher-Ohlin model and the Stolper-Samuelson theorem, wage inequality in developing countries will decrease under free trade and unskilled workers will benefit. We find that on average skilled workers are more likely than unskilled workers to support free trade in Latin American countries. Separate country regressions reveal that this pattern is only statistically significant in 8 out of 17 Latin American countries. However, there are no countries in our sample in which unskilled workers are statistically more likely to support free trade than skilled workers. Not even in the lowest skill endowed country among our 17 Latin American countries. We also find that people from Latin American countries with higher GDP, faster growth, more cropland, and a longer period of time since reform were more likely on average to support free trade.
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Publisher Info
Paper provided by EconWPA in its series International Trade with number
0506002.
Find related papers by JEL classification: F1 - International Economics - - Trade F2 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business
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