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TBTs, Firm Organization and Labour Structure- The effect of Technical Barriers to Trade on Skills

Author

Listed:
  • Giorgio Barba Navaretti
  • Lionel Fontagné

    (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Gianluca Orefice

    (Centre d'Etudes Prospectives et d'Informations Internationales)

  • Giovanni Pica
  • Anna Cecilia Rosso

Abstract

Trade shocks in export markets may affect the employment composition and the organization of exporting firms. In particular, the imposition of new technological standards in destination markets may force exporters to adjust the firm’s organization to comply and cope with the additional complexity of the new production process. This paper investigates the effects on firms’ organization of shocks induced by the introduction of Technical Barriers to Trade (TBTs) in exporting countries. It relies on the Specific Trade Concern (STC) data released by the WTO to identify trade-restrictive TBT measures, combined with matched employer-employee data for the population of French exporters over the period 1995-2010. It also exploits information on the list of product-destinations served by each French exporter. Controlling for tariffs and for a given state of technology in the sector of the firm, it finds that exporters respond to increased complexity associated with restrictive Technical Barriers to Trade at destination by raising the share of managers at the expense of blue collars, white collars and professionals. This paper is related to the growing literature exploring how firms organize production in hierarchies to economize on their use of knowledge. It is also related to the well beaten literature on the labour market effects of trade, but from the perspective of exports rather than imports.
(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)
(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

Suggested Citation

  • Giorgio Barba Navaretti & Lionel Fontagné & Gianluca Orefice & Giovanni Pica & Anna Cecilia Rosso, 2019. "TBTs, Firm Organization and Labour Structure- The effect of Technical Barriers to Trade on Skills," Working Papers hal-02296142, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-02296142
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-02296142
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Robert Wolfe, 2020. "Reforming WTO Conflict Management. Why and How to Improve the Use of “Specific Trade Concerns”," RSCAS Working Papers 2020/53, European University Institute.
    2. Cali,Massimiliano & Ghose,Devaki & Montfaucon,Angella Faith Lapukeni & Ruta,Michele, 2022. "Trade Policy and Exporters’ Resilience : Evidence from Indonesia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10068, The World Bank.
    3. Leonardi, Marco & Meschi, Elena, 2021. "Do Non-tariff Barriers to Trade Save American Jobs and Wages?," IZA Discussion Papers 14162, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • F16 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Labor Market Interactions
    • J82 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Standards - - - Labor Force Composition

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