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Foreign competition and wage inequality

Author Info

Listed author(s):
  • J. Peter Neary

Abstract

I argue that increased foreign competition can affect technical choice and skill differentials even when actual imports do not rise significantly. I present a model of General Oligopolistic Equilibrium ("GOLE") in which a reduction in import barriers (whethe technological or policy-imposed) encourages more strategic investment by incumbent firms. The predictions accord with many of the stylised facts: higher skill premia; higher ratios of skilled to unskilled workers employed in all sectors and throughout the economy; little change in import volumes or prices; and rapid technological progress with rather little change in total factor productivity. (Presidential address to the International Economics and Finance Society, presented at the AEA/ASSA meetings, New Orleans, January 2001.)

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File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10197/1270
File Function: First version, 2001
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Paper provided by School of Economics, University College Dublin in its series Working Papers with number 200102.

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Date of creation: Nov 2001
Handle: RePEc:ucn:wpaper:200102
Contact details of provider: Postal:
UCD, Belfield, Dublin 4

Phone: +353-1-7067777
Fax: +353-1-283 0068
Web page: http://www.ucd.ie/economics

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Keywords: General Oligopolistic Equilibrium ("GOLE"); Skill premia; Skill-biased technical progress; Strategic investment; Trade and wages; Competition; International; Wage differentials; Competition; Imperfect; Labor;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
  • F16 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Labor Market Interactions
  • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
  • F12 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Models of Trade with Imperfect Competition and Scale Economies; Fragmentation

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  1. Jaskold Gabszewicz, Jean & Vial, Jean-Philippe, 1972. "Oligopoly "A la cournot" in a general equilibrium analysis," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 4(3), pages 381-400, June.
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  7. Dixit, Avinash, 1980. "The Role of Investment in Entry-Deterrence," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 90(357), pages 95-106, March.
  8. Feenstra, Robert C & Hanson, Gordon H, 1996. "Globalization, Outsourcing, and Wage Inequality," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(2), pages 240-245, May.
  9. Cordella, Tito & J. Gabszewicz, Jean, 1997. "Comparative advantage under oligopoly," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(3-4), pages 333-346, November.
  10. Hylke Vandenbussche & Jozef Konings, 1998. "Globalisation and the Effects of National Versus International Competition on the Labour Market: Theory and Evidence from Belgian Firm Level Data," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(8), pages 1151-1177, November.
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  13. Davis, Donald R, 1998. "Does European Unemployment Prop Up American Wages? National Labor Markets and Global Trade," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(3), pages 478-494, June.
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  15. Daron Acemoglu, 2003. "Patterns of Skill Premia," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 70(2), pages 199-230.
  16. Desjonqueres, Thibaut & Machin, Stephen & Van Reenen, John, 1999. " Another Nail in the Coffin? Or Can the Trade Based Explanation of Changing Skill Structures Be Resurrected?," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 101(4), pages 533-554, December.
  17. Ronald W. Jones, 1997. "Trade, Technology and Income Distribution," Indian Economic Review, Department of Economics, Delhi School of Economics, vol. 32(2), pages 129-140, July.
  18. Fudenberg, Drew & Tirole, Jean, 1984. "The Fat-Cat Effect, the Puppy-Dog Ploy, and the Lean and Hungry Look," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 74(2), pages 361-366, May.
  19. J.Peter Neary, 2001. "Of Hype and Hyperbolas: Introducing the New Economic Geography," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 39(2), pages 536-561, June.
  20. Thoenig, M. & Verdier, T., 2000. "Trade Induced Technical Bias and Wage Inequalities: a Theory of Defensive Innovation," DELTA Working Papers 2000-02, DELTA (Ecole normale supérieure).
  21. Jonathan E. Haskel, 1999. "The Trade and Labour Approaches to Wage Inequality," Working Papers 405, Queen Mary University of London, School of Economics and Finance.
  22. Paul Segerstrom & Elias Dinopoulos, 1999. "A Schumpeterian Model of Protection and Relative Wages," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(3), pages 450-472, June.
  23. Anthony B. Atkinson, 2000. "The Changing Distribution of Income: Evidence and Explanations," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 1(1), pages 3-18, 02.
  24. Brander, James A., 1981. "Intra-industry trade in identical commodities," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(1), pages 1-14, February.
  25. Wood, Adrian, 1995. "North-South Trade, Employment and Inequality: Changing Fortunes in a Skill-Driven World," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198290155.
  26. Vives, Xavier, 1985. "On the efficiency of Bertrand and Cournot equilibria with product differentation," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 166-175, June.
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