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Factor Price Equality and the Economies of the United States

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  • Andrew B. Bernard
  • Stephen Redding
  • Peter K. Schott

Abstract

We develop a methodology for identifying departures from relative factor price equality across regions that is valid under general assumptions about production, markets and factors. Application of this methodology to the United States reveals substantial and increasing deviations in relative skilled wages across labor markets in both 1972 and 1992. These deviations vary systematically with labor markets industry structure both in cross section and over time.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew B. Bernard & Stephen Redding & Peter K. Schott, 2005. "Factor Price Equality and the Economies of the United States," CEP Discussion Papers dp0696, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    • Handle: RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp0696
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    Cited by:

    1. Bernard, Andrew & Redding, Stephen & Simpson, Helen & Schott, Peter, 2002. "Factor Price Equalization in the UK?," CEPR Discussion Papers 3523, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Guy Michaels, 2008. "The Effect of Trade on the Demand for Skill: Evidence from the Interstate Highway System," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 90(4), pages 683-701, November.
    3. Kwok Tong Soo, 2007. "Endogenous Economic Policy And The Structure Of Production: Theory And Evidence," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 54(2), pages 220-253, May.
    4. Lafortune, Jeanne & Tessada, José & González-Velosa, Carolina, 2015. "More hands, more power? Estimating the impact of immigration on output and technology choices using early 20th century US agriculture," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(2), pages 339-358.
    5. Sebnem Kalemli-Ozcan & Ariell Reshef & Bent E Sørensen & Oved Yosha, 2010. "Why Does Capital Flow to Rich States?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 92(4), pages 769-783, November.
    6. Leena Kerkelä & Aki Kangasharju & Sari Pekkala, 2003. "Factor Price Equalization in Finland," ERSA conference papers ersa03p394, European Regional Science Association.
    7. Helge Berger & Frank Westermann, 2001. "Factor price equalization? The cointegration approach revisited," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 137(3), pages 525-536, September.
    8. Andrew B. Bernard & Stephen Redding & Peter K. Schott & Helen Simpson, 2003. "Relative wage variation and industry location," IFS Working Papers W03/17, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    9. Yun‐kwong Kwok, 2006. "Global factor trade with differentiated factor prices and factor intensities," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 39(3), pages 758-780, August.
    10. Andrew B. Bernard & Stephen J. Redding & Peter K. Schott & Helen Simpson, 2008. "Relative Wage Variation and Industry Location in the United Kingdom," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 70(4), pages 431-459, August.
    11. Venables, Anthony & Markusen, James, 2005. "A Multi-Country Approach to Factor-Proportions Trade and Trade Costs," CEPR Discussion Papers 4872, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    12. Orley Ashenfelter & Stepan Jurajda, 2001. "Cross-Country Comparisons of Wage Rates: The Big Mac Index," Working Papers 2001-7, Princeton University. Economics Department..
    13. Bernard, Andrew B. & Jensen, J. Bradford & Schott, Peter K., 2006. "Survival of the best fit: Exposure to low-wage countries and the (uneven) growth of U.S. manufacturing plants," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 219-237, January.
    14. Peter K. Schott, 2003. "One Size Fits All? Heckscher-Ohlin Specialization in Global Production," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(3), pages 686-708, June.
    15. Andrew B. Bernard & Raymond Robertson & Peter K. Schott, 2010. "Is Mexico a Lumpy Country?," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(5), pages 937-950, November.
    16. Lutz Hendricks, 2004. "Why does educational attainment differ across U.S. states?," 2004 Meeting Papers 361, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    17. Ivan T. Kandilov, 2009. "The Effects Of Trade With Developing Countries On The Regional Demand For Skill In The U.S.: Evidence From County Data," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(3), pages 459-482, August.
    18. Paul Beaudry & David A. Green & Benjamin Sand, 2007. "Spill-Overs from Good Jobs," NBER Working Papers 13006, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Peter K. Schott, 2001. "Do Rich and Poor Countries Specialize in a Different Mix of Goods? Evidence from Product-Level US Trade Data," NBER Working Papers 8492, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Peter M. Morrow, 2008. "East is East and West is West: A Ricardian-Heckscher-Ohlin Model of Comparative Advantage," Working Papers 575, Research Seminar in International Economics, University of Michigan.
    21. Brakman, Steven & van Marrewijk, Charles, 2013. "Lumpy countries, urbanization, and trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(1), pages 252-261.
    22. Laura Hering & Sandra Poncet, 2010. "Market Access and Individual Wages: Evidence from China," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 92(1), pages 145-159, February.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Factor Price Equality; Regional Wages; Neoclassical Trade Theory; Labor Market Areas;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F16 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Labor Market Interactions
    • J30 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - General
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population
    • C14 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Semiparametric and Nonparametric Methods: General

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