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Capital Accumulation, Trade Liberalization and Rising Wage Inequality: The Case of Argentina

Author

Listed:
  • Leonardo Gasparini

    (Centro de Estudios Distributivos, Laborales y Sociales (CEDLAS) FCE - UNLP)

  • Pablo Acosta

    (University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign)

Abstract

Capital accumulation can modify the relative productivity between skilled and unskilled workers, thus leading to changes in the wage structure. In particular, if capital goods are relatively more complementary to skilled workers in the production function (skill-biased technologies), a positive correlation between investment in physical capital and the wage premium would be expected. In this paper we present evidence for this hypothesis by taking advantage of the variability in wage premia and capital investment across industries in the Argentine manufacturing sector. We conclude that the wage premium for workers with complete college education increased more in those industries with higher investment in machinery and equipment. As in Galiani and Sanguinetti (2003, in this journal), the wage premium also grew more in those sectors which faced strong import competition, although this effect is empirically less relevant than the capital accumulation effect.

Suggested Citation

  • Leonardo Gasparini & Pablo Acosta, 2004. "Capital Accumulation, Trade Liberalization and Rising Wage Inequality: The Case of Argentina," CEDLAS, Working Papers 0005, CEDLAS, Universidad Nacional de La Plata.
    • Handle: RePEc:dls:wpaper:0005
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Galiani, Sebastian & Sanguinetti, Pablo, 2003. "The impact of trade liberalization on wage inequality: evidence from Argentina," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(2), pages 497-513, December.
    3. Wood, Adrian, 1995. "North-South Trade, Employment and Inequality: Changing Fortunes in a Skill-Driven World," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198290155, Decembrie.
    4. Martín Cicowiez, 2002. "Comercio y Desigualdad Salarial en Argentina: Un Enfoque de Equilibrio General Computado," Department of Economics, Working Papers 040, Departamento de Economía, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata.
    5. Francesco Caselli, 1999. "Technological Revolutions," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(1), pages 78-102, March.
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    8. David Card & John E. DiNardo, 2002. "Skill-Biased Technological Change and Rising Wage Inequality: Some Problems and Puzzles," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 20(4), pages 733-783, October.
    9. Per Krusell & Lee E. Ohanian & JosÈ-Victor RÌos-Rull & Giovanni L. Violante, 2000. "Capital-Skill Complementarity and Inequality: A Macroeconomic Analysis," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 68(5), pages 1029-1054, September.
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    11. Daron Acemoglu, 2002. "Technical Change, Inequality, and the Labor Market," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(1), pages 7-72, March.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Castro, Lucio & Olarreaga, Marcelo & Saslavsky, Daniel, 2006. "The impact of trade with China and India on Argentina’s manufacturing employment," MPRA Paper 538, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Leonardo Gasparini, 2003. "Argentina´s Distributional Failure: The role of Integration and Public Policies," CEDLAS, Working Papers 0001, CEDLAS, Universidad Nacional de La Plata.
    3. Edinaldo Tebaldi & Jongsung Kim, 2010. "Two Tales on the Returns to Education: The Impact of Trade on Wages," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(4), pages 768-782, November.
    4. Lucio Castro, 2005. "Tango with the Dragon: Employment Effects of Trade Integration with China. The Case of Argentina," International Trade 0509004, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Ricardo Bebczuk, 2009. "SME Access to Credit in Guatemala and Nicaragua: Challenging Conventional Wisdom with New Evidence," CEDLAS, Working Papers 0080, CEDLAS, Universidad Nacional de La Plata.
    6. Lucio Castro & Daniel Saslavsky, 2008. "Trade with China and India and Manufacturing Labour Demand in Argentina," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2008-108, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    7. López Bóo, Florencia, 2010. "Returns to Education and Macroeconomic Shocks: Evidence from Argentina," IZA Discussion Papers 4753, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Lucio Castro & Daniel Saslavsky, 2005. "Trade, Poverty and Employment: The Social Consequences of Integration with China," International Trade 0512017, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Demombynes, Gabriel & Metzler, Johannes, 2008. "Connecting the unobserved dots : a decomposition analysis of changes in earnings inequality in urban Argentina, 1980-2002," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4624, The World Bank.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    wage premium; capital accumulation; technological change; trade liberalization; wage inequality; Argentina.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • F16 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Labor Market Interactions
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

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