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Trade and Wages: A Deeper Investigation

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  • Ruffin, Roy J

    (University of Houston)

  • Ronald W Jones

Abstract

A new presentation of the specific factors model shows how labor fares under international trade by considering how the price elasticity of the nominal wage rate responds to the terms of trade as well as factor endowments. Gains to labor are decomposed into measurable terms of trade effects and production bias effects. If trade is caused by differences in technology, trade can harm the interests of labor when the elasticities of substitution are sufficiently small. If trade is caused by differences in labor endowments, trade raises real wages in the labor abundant country, even if exports are capital intensive.

Suggested Citation

  • Ruffin, Roy J & Ronald W Jones, 2003. "Trade and Wages: A Deeper Investigation," Royal Economic Society Annual Conference 2003 178, Royal Economic Society.
    • Handle: RePEc:ecj:ac2003:178
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    1. Edward J. Balistreri & Christine A. McDaniel & Eina Vivian Wong, 2003. "An Estimation of U.S. Industry-Level Capital-Labor Substitution," Computational Economics 0303001, University Library of Munich, Germany.
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    Cited by:

    1. Robert S. Chirinko & Debdulal Mallick, 2014. "The Substitution Elasticity, Factor Shares, Long-Run Growth, and the Low-Frequency Panel Model," CESifo Working Paper Series 4895, CESifo.
    2. Akay, Gokhan H., 2012. "Trade and factor returns: Empirical evidence from U.S. economy," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 77-86.
    3. Michael Knoblach & Fabian Stöckl, 2020. "What Determines The Elasticity Of Substitution Between Capital And Labor? A Literature Review," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(4), pages 847-875, September.
    4. Gokhan Akay & Can Dogan, 2013. "The effect of labor supply changes on output: empirical evidence from US industries," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 39(2), pages 123-130, April.
    5. Jones, Ronald W., 2012. "Real wages and non-traded goods," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 177-185.
    6. Dogan, Can & Akay, Gokhan H., 2019. "The role of labor endowments on industry output in the short run: Evidence from U.S industries," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 281-291.
    7. Alexander Hijzen, 2004. "Trade in Intermediates and the Rise in Wage Inequality in the UK: A GNP Function Approach," Econometric Society 2004 North American Summer Meetings 224, Econometric Society.
    8. Barbara Dluhosch & Stefanie Krause, 2013. "Diversity and the disinterest in trade liberalization: on the prospects of self-enforcing cooperation," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 455-475, April.
    9. Samuele Ialenti & Guido Pialli, 2024. "The increase in the elasticity of substitution between capital and labour: a repeated cross-country investigation," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(3), pages 380-400, April.
    10. Eden S. H. Yu & Chi‐Chur Chao, 2021. "Appropriation, firm dynamics, and wage inequality," International Journal of Economic Theory, The International Society for Economic Theory, vol. 17(1), pages 118-129, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    trade; real wages; beta function; specific factors;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F1 - International Economics - - Trade

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