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Productivity Measurement and the Impact of Trade and Technology on Wages: Estimates for the U.S., 1972-1990

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  • Robert C. Feenstra
  • Gordon H. Hanson

Abstract

We develop an empirical framework to assess the importance of trade and technical change on the wages of production and nonproduction workers. Trade is measured by the foreign outsourcing of intermediate inputs, while technical change is measured by the shift towards high-technology capital such as computers. In our benchmark specification, we find that both foreign outsourcing and expenditures on high-technology equipment can explain a substantial amount of the increase in the wages of nonproduction (high-skilled) relative to production (low-skilled) workers that occurred during the 1980s. Surprisingly, it is expenditures on high-technology capital other than computers that are most important. These results are very sensitive, however, to our benchmark assumption that industry prices are independent of productivity. When we allow for the endogeneity of industry prices, then expenditures on computers becomes the most important cause of the increased wage inequality, and have a 50% greater impact than does foreign outsourcing.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert C. Feenstra & Gordon H. Hanson, 1997. "Productivity Measurement and the Impact of Trade and Technology on Wages: Estimates for the U.S., 1972-1990," NBER Working Papers 6052, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:6052
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    2. Alexander Hijzen, 2007. "International Outsourcing, Technological Change, and Wage Inequality," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(1), pages 188-205, February.
    3. Guillaume Daudin & Christine Rifflart & Danielle Schweisguth, 2011. "Who produces for whom in the world economy?," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 44(4), pages 1403-1437, November.
    4. Bosello, Francesco & Roson, Roberto & Tol, Richard S.J., 2006. "Economy-wide estimates of the implications of climate change: Human health," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(3), pages 579-591, June.
    5. World Bank, 2004. "Inequality and Economic Development in Brazil," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 14913, December.
    6. Michel Dumont & Glenn Rayp & Olivier Thas & Peter Willemé, 2005. "Correcting Standard Errors in Two‐stage Estimation Procedures with Generated Regressands," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 67(3), pages 421-433, June.
    7. Sabine Engelmann, 2014. "International trade, technological change and wage inequality in the UK economy," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 41(2), pages 223-246, May.
    8. Ioannis Bournakis & Michela Vecchi & Francesco Venturini, 2018. "Off‐Shoring, Specialization and R&D," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 64(1), pages 26-51, March.
    9. Johannes Fedderke & Yongcheol Shin & Prabhat Vaze, 2003. "Trade, Technology and Wage Inequality in the South African Manufacturing Sectors," Edinburgh School of Economics Discussion Paper Series 106, Edinburgh School of Economics, University of Edinburgh.
    10. Nicita, Alessandro, 2004. "Who benefited from trade liberalization in Mexico? Measuring the effects on household welfare," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3265, The World Bank.
    11. Yuntong Wang & Xiaopeng Yin, 2016. "Technology Transfer, Welfare, and Wage Inequality," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(2), pages 611-623, May.
    12. Ilham Haouas & Mahmoud Yagoubib, 2007. "The effect of international trade on labour-demand elasticities: empirical evidence from Tunisia," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(4), pages 277-286.
    13. Aekapol Chongvilaivan, 2012. "Learning by exporting and high-tech capital deepening in Singapore manufacturing industries, 1974--2006," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(20), pages 2551-2568, July.
    14. Hoekman & Bernard & Winters, L. Alan, 2005. "Trade and employment : stylized facts and research findings," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3676, The World Bank.
    15. De Santis, Roberto A., 1999. "Intra-industry trade, endogenous technological change, wage inequality and welfare," Kiel Working Papers 921, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    16. Shalah M. Mostashari, 2011. "Vertical specialization, intermediate tariffs, and the pattern of trade: assessing the role of tariff liberalization to U.S. bilateral trade 1989-2001," Globalization Institute Working Papers 71, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
    17. Picciolo, Francesco & Papandreou, Andreas & Hubacek, Klaus & Ruzzenenti, Franco, 2017. "How crude oil prices shape the global division of labor," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 753-761.
    18. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/5l6uh8ogmqildh09h4dj9499g is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Dumont, Michel, 2004. "The Impact of International Trade with Newly Industrialised Countries on the Wages and Employment of Low-Skilled and High-Skilled Workers in the European Union," Thesis Commons bmxag, Center for Open Science.
    20. Ángel Paúl Moreno Plascencia & Rafael Salvador Espinosa Ramírez, 2018. "Effects of the Foreign Direct Investment on the Productivity of Latin American Countries (1990-2012)," Economía: teoría y práctica, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, México, vol. 49(2), pages 7-36, Julio-Dic.
    21. Ms. Faezeh Raei & Anna Ignatenko & Borislava Mircheva, 2019. "Global Value Chains: What are the Benefits and Why Do Countries Participate?," IMF Working Papers 2019/018, International Monetary Fund.
    22. Wei Zou & Lan Liu & Ziyin Zhuang, 2009. "Skill Premium, Biased Technological Change and Income Differences," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 17(6), pages 64-87, November.
    23. Robert C. Feenstra, 1998. "Integration of Trade and Disintegration of Production in the Global Economy," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 12(4), pages 31-50, Fall.
    24. Shandre M. Thangvelu, . "Trade, Technology, Foreign Firms and Wage Gap: Case of Vietnam Manufacturing Firms," Chapters, in: Chine Hee HAHN & Dionisius Narjoko (ed.), Impact of Globalization on Labor Market, chapter 5, pages 106-133, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA).
    25. Aekapol Chongvilaivan, 2012. "Learning by exporting and high-tech capital deepening in Singapore manufacturing industries, 1974--2006," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(20), pages 2551-2568, July.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • J30 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - General

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