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The effects of trade and services liberalization on wage inequality in India

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Listed author(s):
  • Mehta, Aashish
  • Hasan, Rana

Abstract

We examine the effects of trade and services liberalization on wage inequality in India. We find that labor reallocations and wage shifts attributable to liberalization account for at most 29% of the increase in inequality between 1993 and 2004, and that the effects of services reforms are many times larger than those of trade liberalization. In contrast, 30–66% of the increase in wage inequality is due to changes in industry wages and skill premiums that cannot be empirically linked to liberalization. These results suggest that if liberalization did, in fact, contribute significantly to increased inequality, the bulk of its effects do not linger in inter-industry wage and skill premiums but are subsumed by general equilibrium effects. Studies of the liberalization-inequality relationship that focus on differences in employment and wage outcomes across industries, or on tradable goods alone, may therefore only be exploring the tip of the iceberg.

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File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1059056011001201
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Article provided by Elsevier in its journal International Review of Economics & Finance.

Volume (Year): 23 (2012)
Issue (Month): C ()
Pages: 75-90

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Handle: RePEc:eee:reveco:v:23:y:2012:i:c:p:75-90
DOI: 10.1016/j.iref.2011.10.007
Contact details of provider: Web page: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/620165

Keywords: India; Wage inequality; Trade liberalization; Services liberalization; Decomposition;

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  1. Chamarbagwala, Rubiana, 2006. "Economic Liberalization and Wage Inequality in India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 34(12), pages 1997-2015, December.
  2. Jens Matthias Arnold & Beata Javorcik & Molly Lipscomb & Aaditya Mattoo, 2016. "Services Reform and Manufacturing Performance: Evidence from India," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 126(590), pages 1-39, 02.
  3. Kar, Saibal & Marjit, Sugata, 2009. "Urban informal sector and poverty," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 631-642, October.
  4. Puja Vasudeva Dutta, 2007. "Trade Protection and Industry Wages in India," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 60(2), pages 268-286, January.
  5. Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg & Nina Pavcnik, 2007. "Distributional Effects of Globalization in Developing Countries," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 45(1), pages 39-82, March.
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  10. Rana Hasan & Devashish Mitra & K.V. Ramaswamy, 2007. "Trade Reforms, Labor Regulations, and Labor-Demand Elasticities: Empirical Evidence from India," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 89(3), pages 466-481, August.
  11. Kijima, Yoko, 2006. "Why did wage inequality increase? Evidence from urban India 1983-99," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(1), pages 97-117, October.
  12. Goldberg, Pinelopi Koujianou & Pavcnik, Nina, 2005. "Trade, wages, and the political economy of trade protection: evidence from the Colombian trade reforms," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 75-105, May.
  13. Krishna, Pravin & Mitra, Devashish, 1998. "Trade liberalization, market discipline and productivity growth: new evidence from India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(2), pages 447-462, August.
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  16. Yujin Oh & Sung-Joon Park & Yu-Seop Kim, 2007. "A comparative analysis of inter-industry wage differentials: before and after the Korean financial crisis," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(11), pages 1387-1397.
  17. Nina Pavcnik & Andreas Blom & Pinelopi Goldberg & Norbert Schady, 2004. "Trade Liberalization and Industry Wage Structure: Evidence from Brazil," World Bank Economic Review, World Bank Group, vol. 18(3), pages 319-344.
  18. Cragg, Michael Ian & Epelbaum, Mario, 1996. "Why has wage dispersion grown in Mexico? Is it the incidence of reforms or the growing demand for skills?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 99-116, October.
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Cited by:

  1. Barua, Alokesh & Pant, Manoj, 2014. "Trade and wage inequality: A specific factor model with intermediate goods," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 172-185.
  2. Kapri, Kul, 2016. "Productivity, firm size and trade liberalization in a partner country: Evidence from Korean firm-level data," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 572-583.
  3. Pi, Jiancai & Zhou, Yu, 2014. "Foreign capital, public infrastructure, and wage inequality in developing countries," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 195-207.
  4. Aradhna Aggarwal & Nagesh Kumar, 2012. "Structural Change, Industrialization and Poverty Reduction: The Case of India," Development Papers 1206, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) South and South-West Asia Office.
  5. Zhang, Jingjing, 2015. "International factor mobility, elasticity of substitution in production and the skilled–unskilled wage gap," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 122-129.
  6. Sun, Sizhong & Anwar, Sajid, 2015. "Taxation of labour, product varieties and skilled–unskilled wage inequality: Short run versus long run," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 250-257.
  7. Anwar, Sajid & Sun, Sizhong, 2015. "Taxation of labour income and the skilled–unskilled wage inequality," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 18-22.
  8. Pan, Lijun, 2014. "The impacts of education investment on skilled–unskilled wage inequality and economic development in developing countries," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 174-181.
  9. Jiancai Pi & Yu Zhou, 2015. "The impacts of corruption on wage inequality and rural–urban migration in developing countries," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 54(3), pages 753-768, May.
  10. Pi, Jiancai & Zhou, Yu & Yin, Jun, 2013. "International factor mobility, monopolistic competition, and wage inequality," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 326-332.
  11. Njikam, Ousmanou, 2016. "Trade liberalization, labor market regulations and labor demand in Cameroon," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 525-541.
  12. Zhang, Jingjing, 2013. "Factor mobility and skilled–unskilled wage inequality in the presence of internationally traded product varieties," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 579-585.
  13. Dainn Wie & Jong-Wha Lee, 2016. "Wage Structure and Gender Earnings Differentials in China and India," GRIPS Discussion Papers 16-25, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies.
  14. Prabir Bhattacharya & Takahiro Sato, 2017. "Estimating Regional Returns to Education in India," Discussion Paper Series DP2017-09, Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration, Kobe University.
  15. Kamal Vatta & Takahiro Sato, 2012. "Indian Labour Markets and Returns to Education, 1983 to 2009-10," Discussion Paper Series DP2012-33, Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration, Kobe University.

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