Trade, Income and Heterogeneous Labor Supply

Workers in developing countries tend to spend more time at work than those in developed countries. This can be explained by preferences with prevalent income effects: as income rises, workers reduce their supply of labor hours to consume more leisure. However, not all workers benefit alike. In this study, we estimate the heterogeneous effects of trade, as a shifter of aggregate income, on workers’ labor supply by age, education, and gender. We find that all workers benefit from more leisure caused by the income boost triggered by trade. However, young and elder workers benefit significantly more than prime-age workers. In addition, following increased trade openness women and less educated workers tend to reduce their labor supply relatively more.