A topical examination of the impact of globalization and the intricate relationship between international trade and labour markets, containing theoretical and empirical studies of countries including UK, Mexico and Chile. The distinguished international contributors demonstrate the importance of this emerging research agenda analyzing the importance of trade reforms on employment and the impact on skilled and unskilled labour from technological change and global competition.
This paper summarizes the results of recent research into the effects of international trade on labor demand highlighting three areas which may require further investigation. These areas being: the relationship between labor market variables and trade policy measures, the issue of trade and labor market outcomes from a consistent cross-country perspective, and finally, the role of labor market institutions and production internalization.
The world economy has undergone miraculous changes in the last decade, particularly in developing and former communist countries. Privatization and trade liberalization have replaced the protectionist and statist policies that were deeply entrenched in these areas just ten years ago. Today, these dynamic emerging markets offer attractive opportunities. According to Robert Lawrence, liberal international trade and investment should provide significant opportunities for gains in developing and developed nations alike. But will the developed countries be allowed to keep their markets open and absorb exports from developing countries? Many in the U.S. and Europe blame international trade for unemployment and wage inequality. But what is the real relationship? Lawrence contends that while trade has played some role in reducing the wages of poorly educated workers in the U.S. and in raising the unemployment of unskilled workers in Europe, its impact has been small compared with other causes of these changes. Lawrence examines the role of trade in developed and developing countries and its impact on labor markets and wage inequality, and discusses what he considers the more important effects of technological and organizational change. He begins by focusing on U.S. wage behavior, then moves to wage behavior in the OECD countries. Lawrence concludes that the impact of globalization on OECD labor markets has been far less damaging than many have argued and, indeed, that international trade enhances national welfare. He presents considerable evidence that the sources of poor labor market performance are essentially domestic—they reflect ongoing technological and organizational shocks that would be present even if the economy was closed. This evidence suggests that international differences in wage rates and labor standards are not major factors in OECD labor market behavior. He explains that the major challenges to policy are educating the public on the nature of these changes, emphasizing the need for worker training and education to take advantage of new technologies and new organizational structures, and developing measures to reduce earnings inequality while preserving and increasing wage flexibility. Robert Z. Lawrence is professor of international trade and investment at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. His previous books include A Vision for the World Economy: Openness, Diversity, and Cohesion (Brookings, 1996), the capstone volume to the Integrating National Economies series. Copublished with the OECD Development Centre
Labour market institutions, including collective bargaining, the regulation of employment contracts and social protection policies, are instrumental for improving the well-being of workers, their families and society. In many countries, these instituti
Globalization and the growing integration of national markets have had profound effects on the operation of markets, not least labour markets. In this book, a range of leading commentators on globalization and labour markets present original contribution on the interaction between these two areas. This book assesses the impact of globalization on trade, cross-border investment and migration from both a theoretical and econometric standpoint and discusses the possible applications of this analysis for both industrialized and developing countries.
This volume collects theoretical papers on the labor market effects of international trade that Udo Kreickemeier has published, together with different co-authors, over the past decade. Many contributions contained in this volume feature labor market imperfections that give rise to involuntary unemployment, and in those contributions, the question of how trade affects aggregate employment typically takes center stage in the analysis. Another recurring theme in many papers is the link between international trade and the income distribution within countries. The channels explored in the different papers include union wage premia, exporter wage premia due to firm-level rent sharing, and ability premia to entrepreneurs that are able to capitalize on their high productivity in global markets.
"This volume collects theoretical papers on the labor market effects of international trade that Udo Kreickemeier has published, together with different co-authors, over the past decade. Many contributions contained in this volume feature labor market imperfections that give rise to involuntary unemployment, and in those contributions, the question of how trade affects aggregate employment typically takes center stage in the analysis. Another recurring theme in many papers is the link between international trade and the income distribution within countries. The channels explored in the different papers include union wage premia, exporter wage premia due to firm-level rent sharing, and ability premia to entrepreneurs that are able to capitalize on their high productivity in global markets."--Publisher's website.
While most standard economic models of international trade assume full employment, Carl Davidson and Steven Matusz have argued over the past two decades that this reliance on full-employment modeling is misleading and ill-equipped to tackle many important trade-related questions. This book brings together the authors' pioneering work in creating models that more accurately reflect the real-world connections between international trade and labor markets. The material collected here presents the theoretical and empirical foundations of equilibrium unemployment modeling, which the authors and their collaborators developed to give researchers and policymakers a more realistic picture of how international trade affects labor markets, and of how transnational differences in labor markets affect international trade. They address the shortcomings of standard models, describe the empirics that underlie equilibrium unemployment models, and illustrate how these new models can yield vital insights into the relationship between international trade and employment. This volume also includes an indispensable general introduction as well as concise section introductions that put the authors' work in context and reveal the thinking behind their ideas. Economists are only now realizing just how important these ideas are, making this book essential reading for researchers and students.
This graduate textbook offers advanced and contemporary readings in international trade and economic development and provides an overview of the fundamental topics in this area. It brings together many of the issues that are considered staple reading for a course in trade and development and it offers a systematic coverage of the relevant and state of the art research on various aspects of the subject. This includes detailed analysis of important sub-topics such as: trade and labour market, trade and public economics, the theory of the second best, foreign aid, factor mobility, and regional and global welfare. It also covers international trade and labour standards, the informal labour market, and TRIPS. Aimed at post-graduate students interested in trade theory and applications in development issues, this book should also prove a valuable resource for practicing economists, policy makers, and advanced undergraduate students studying international trade. The text balances extensive coverage of available literature in the area with substantive inclusions from new research published in leading journals and volumes. It aims to fill the gap in the teaching resources and should promote further theoretical and empirical research in the subject.
