Trade, wages and skill accumulation in the emerging giants

A-Tier
Journal: Journal of International Economics
Year: 2013
Volume: 89
Issue: 2
Pages: 407-421

Authors (2)

Score contribution per author:

2.011 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Concerns over rising inequality have threatened to slow the process of trade liberalization in emerging economies, such as China and India. But even if trade liberalization raises inequality, these effects may be short lived and associated with important dynamic effects such as capital and skill accumulation. Using a simple dynamic open economy model we show that trade liberalization can induce substantial human capital accumulation, and that the transition path for the skill premium can be non-monotonic. We then consider a higher dimensional version of the model which is calibrated to data for China and India. In both cases trade liberalization generates a jump in the skill premium on impact, and a fall in the long run. It also generates strong wage growth for both skilled and unskilled labor and substantial accumulation of skilled labor.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:inecon:v:89:y:2013:i:2:p:407-421
Journal Field
International
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-29