Trade Liberalization and Division of Labor

Trade Liberalization and Division of Labor PDF Author: Xuehua Peng
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Division of labor
Languages : en
Pages :

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Trade Liberalization and Division of Labor

Trade Liberalization and Division of Labor PDF Author: Xuehua Peng
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Division of labor
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description


Migration and the Skill Composition of the Labor Force

Migration and the Skill Composition of the Labor Force PDF Author: Ramon Eugenio Lopez
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN:
Category : Developing countries
Languages : en
Pages : 36

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Employment and Wage Effects of Trade Liberalization

Employment and Wage Effects of Trade Liberalization PDF Author: Ana Revenga
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 36

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October 1995 Cuts in Mexico's tariff levels were associated with a slight decline in employment in Mexico and with increases in average wages (perhaps reflecting improved productivity in the reformed industries and a shift toward the use of more skilled workers). The wages and employment of skilled production workers were significantly more responsive to changes in protection levels than those of nonproduction workers. In 1985, after decades of an import-substitution industrial strategy, Mexico initiated a radical liberalization of its external sector. Between 1985 and 1988, import licensing requirements were scaled back to a quarter of earlier levels, reference prices were removed, and tariff rates on most products were substantially reduced. By 1989, Mexico was one of the most open economies in the developing world. Adjusting to trade liberalization required the reallocation of resources between sectors and entailed substantial dislocation of workers. Revenga analyzes how Mexico's trade liberalization (1985 - 87) affected employment and wages in industry, focusing on how it affected average employment and earnings rather than on the link between trade and relative wages. She examines the tradeoff between wage and employment adjustment, identifies which labor groups benefited more from liberalization, and tries to associate changes in employment and wages directly with measures of change in trade protection, rather than link them to changes in imports and exports (which is more common). She finds that reductions in quota coverage and tariff levels are associated with moderate reductions in firm-level employment. A 10-point reduction in tariff levels (between 1985 and 1990) is associated with a 2- to 3-percent decline in employment in Mexico. Changes in quota coverage appear to have no discernible effect on wages, but reductions in tariff levels are associated with increases in average wages. This seems to reflect improved productivity in the reformed industries, which may be related to a shift toward the use of more skilled workers. There seems to have been a slight shift in the skill mix in favor of nonproduction workers. This was paralleled by a sharper increase in the wage differential between skilled and unskilled workers. The wages and employment of skilled production workers were significantly more responsive to changes in protection levels than those of nonproduction workers -- perhaps partly because production workers were more heavily concentrated in the industries in which protection levels were greatly reduced. This paper -- a product of the Country Operations Division 1, Latin America and the Caribbean, Country Department II -- was prepared for the World Bank labor markets workshop held in July 1994.

Free Trade Reimagined

Free Trade Reimagined PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Openness, Outward Orientation, Trade Liberalization and Economic Performance in Developing Countries

Openness, Outward Orientation, Trade Liberalization and Economic Performance in Developing Countries PDF Author: Sebastian Edwards
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN:
Category : Apertura economica - Paises en desarrollo
Languages : en
Pages : 66

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The New Division of Labour

The New Division of Labour PDF Author: Mark Joseph Carney
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Canada
Languages : en
Pages : 194

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International Trade and Labor Markets

International Trade and Labor Markets PDF Author: Carl Davidson
Publisher: W.E. Upjohn Institute
ISBN: 0880992743
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 156

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Trade Liberalization and the Transition to a Market Economy

Trade Liberalization and the Transition to a Market Economy PDF Author: Oleh Havrylyshyn
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN:
Category : Commercial policy
Languages : en
Pages : 56

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Book Description
Trade liberalization is more important to Eastern and Central European economies than to reforming nonsocialist economies - and will also benefit the reforming socialist economies more. But it must be accompanied, or quickly followed, by rapid privatization.

Economic Liberalization and Labor Markets

Economic Liberalization and Labor Markets PDF Author: Parviz Dabir-Alai
Publisher: Praeger
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
Contains 11 essays which discuss the impact of economic liberalization on employment and unemployment.

Trading Arrangements and Industrial Development

Trading Arrangements and Industrial Development PDF Author: Diego Puga
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
A new approach to analyzing the role of trade in promoting industrial development. How do different trading arrangements influence the industrialization process of developing countries? Can preferential trading arrangements (PTAs) be superior to multilateral liberalization, or at least an alternative when multilateral liberalization proceeds slowly? If so, what form should the PTAs take? Are developing countries better advised to seek PTAs with industrial countries or among themselves? Traditional analysis of these issues has been based on the ideas of trade creation and trade diversion. The problem with this analysis is that it starts from assuming a pattern of comparative advantage. This stands in sharp contrast to the apparently changing comparative advantage of newly industrialized countries. The experience of these countries suggests the need for an analysis in which the pattern of comparative advantage is not set in stone but is potentially flexible, and in which less developed countries can develop and converge in both income and economic structure to industrial economies. Puga and Venables outline an alternative approach for analyzing the role of trade in promoting industrial development. There are few fundamental differences between countries that generate immutable patterns of comparative advantage. Instead the pattern of trade and development in the world economy is determined mainly by history. Cumulative causation has created concentrations of industrial activity in particular locations (industrial countries) and left other areas more dependent on primary activities. Economic development can be thought of as the spread of these concentrations from country to country. Different trading arrangements may have a major impact on this development process. By changing the attractiveness of countries as a base for manufacturing production they can potentially trigger or postpone industrial development. This approach explains why firms are reluctant to move to economies that have lower wages and labor costs, and shows how trade liberalization can change the incentives to become established in developing countries. It provides a mechanism through which import liberalization can have a powerful effect in promoting industrialization. And it suggests that import liberalization may create or amplify differences between liberalizing countries with the possible political tensions this may create. While these features are consistent with the world economy, they fall short of providing convincing empirical support for the approach. Using the approach, the authors derive a number of conclusions about the effects of trade liberalization. First, that unilaterally liberalizing imports of manufactures can promote development of the local manufacturing industry. The mechanism is forward linkages from imported intermediates, but this may be interpreted as part of a wider package of linkages coming from these imports. Second, the gains from liberalization through PTA membership are likely to exceed those obtained from unilateral action. South-South PTAs will be sensitive to the market size of member states, and North-South PTAs seem to offer better prospects for participating Southern economies, if not for North and excluded countries. Third, the effects of particular schemes (such as the division of benefits between Southern economies) will depend on the characteristics of the countries and cross-country differences in these characteristics. This paper - a product of the International Trade Division, International Economics Department - was prepared for the research project on regional integration.