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Immigrants and Natives in General Equilibrium Trade Models

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  • Daniel Trefler

Abstract

This paper makes three observations about international trade and immigration. (i)" Borjas has argued that immigration may yield a net social benefit even though it hurts those less-skilled workers who directly compete with immigrants. I show that this closed-economy" argument unravels when imbedded in the Ricardian or Heckscher-Ohlin models of international" trade. (ii) Following Wood and Feenstra-Hanson, I argue that within an industry those goods" produced abroad use more unskilled labor than those goods produced in the United States. How" much more depends on whether the good is produced in a developed or developing country. " After transparently incorporating this into a new factor content study I find that changes in U.S." trade patterns almost certainly battered wages of those at the very bottom of the skill ladder. (iii)" Despite globalization pressures, I find little evidence of earnings convergence for a sample of 75" countries over the 1963-92 period. This holds true even after controlling for education and workers' industry of affiliation.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel Trefler, 1997. "Immigrants and Natives in General Equilibrium Trade Models," NBER Working Papers 6209, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:6209
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    Cited by:

    1. Harry P. Bowen & Jennifer Pédussel Wu, 2013. "Immigrant Specificity and the Relationship between Trade and Immigration: Theory and Evidence," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 80(2), pages 366-384, October.
    2. Mayda, Anna Maria, 2008. "Why are people more pro-trade than pro-migration?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 101(3), pages 160-163, December.
    3. Núñez, Gaspar & Polo, Clemente, 2005. "Financing Poverty Alleviation: IVA vs ISR. An Applied General Equilibrium Approach," Conference papers 331329, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    4. Brücker, Herbert & Kohlhaas, Michael, 2004. "International Migration to Germany: A CGE-Analysis of Labour Market Impact," Conference papers 331276, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    5. O'Rourke, Kevin H. & Sinnott, Richard, 2006. "The determinants of individual attitudes towards immigration," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 838-861, December.
    6. Herbert Brücker, 2003. "Die Arbeitsmarkteffekte der Ost-West-Migration: theoretische Überlegungen, Simulationen und empirische Befunde," Vierteljahrshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung / Quarterly Journal of Economic Research, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 72(4), pages 579-593.
    7. Wang-Sheng Lee, 2007. "Immigration and Wages: An Open Economy Model," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2007n07, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    8. Tito Boeri & Herbert Brücker, 2005. "Migration, Co-ordination Failures and EU Enlargement: Paper Presented at the 41st Economic Policy Panel in Luxembourg, 15/16 April 2005," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 481, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    9. Salvador Valdés-Prieto, 2013. "Portability of Social Benefits and International Trade in Services: Some Reflections," CESifo Working Paper Series 4080, CESifo.
    10. Anna Maria Mayda, 2006. "Who Is Against Immigration? A Cross-Country Investigation of Individual Attitudes toward Immigrants," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 88(3), pages 510-530, August.
    11. Kar, Saibal & Beladi, Hamid, 2004. "Skill formation and international migration: welfare perspective of developing countries," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 35-54, January.
    12. Kurokawa, Yoshinori & Pang, Jiaren & Tang, Yao, 2016. "Exchange rate regimes and wage comovements in a Ricardian model with money," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 96-109.
    13. Donald R. Davis & David E. Weinstein, 2002. "Technological Superiority and the Losses from Migration," NBER Working Papers 8971, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Istvan Konya, 2001. "Optimal Immigration, Assimilation and Trade," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 507, Boston College Department of Economics.
    15. Mayda, Anna Maria, 2005. "International Migration: A Panel Data Analysis of Economic and Non-Economic Determinants," IZA Discussion Papers 1590, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Eric WEINSTEIN, 2002. "Migration for the benefit of all: Towards a new paradigm for economic immigration," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 141(3), pages 225-252, September.
    17. István Kónya, 2007. "Optimal Immigration and Cultural Assimilation," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 25(2), pages 367-391.
    18. Chletsos, Michael & Roupakias, Stelios, 2012. "Immigration, Unemployment and Growth: Empirical Evidence from Greece," MPRA Paper 39861, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Boeri, Tito & Brücker, Herbert, 2005. "Migration, Co-ordination Failures and EU Enlargement," IZA Discussion Papers 1600, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F1 - International Economics - - Trade
    • F2 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business

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