Bonfatti, Roberto and Ghatak, Maitreesh 
ORCID: 0000-0002-0126-0897
(2010)
Trade and the skill premium puzzle with capital market imperfections.
Economic Organisation and Public Policy Discussion Papers (EOPP 020).
Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines, London, UK.
Abstract
An interesting puzzle is that trade liberalization in the 1980s and 1990s has been associated with a sharp increase in the skill premium in both developed and developing countries. This is in contrast with neoclassical theory, according to which trade should increase the relative return of the relatively abundant factor. We develop a simple model of trade with capital market imperfections, and show that trade can increase the skill premium in both the North and the South, and both in the short run as well as in the long run. We show that trade with a skill-intensive economy has two effects: it reduces the skilled wage, and thus discourages non talented agents out of the skilled labor force; and it reduces the cost of subsistence, thus allowing the talented offspring of unskilled workers to go to school. This compositional effect has a positive effect on the observed skill premium, possibly strong enough to counterweight the decrease in the skilled wage.
| Item Type: | Monograph (Discussion Paper) |
|---|---|
| Official URL: | http://sticerd.lse.ac.uk/_new/publications/abstrac... |
| Additional Information: | © 2010 The Authors |
| Divisions: | Economics STICERD |
| Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory |
| JEL classification: | F - International Economics > F1 - Trade > F16 - Trade and Labor Market Interactions O - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O15 - Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration O - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O16 - Economic Development: Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Governance |
| Date Deposited: | 14 Apr 2011 10:50 |
| Last Modified: | 01 Apr 2024 07:57 |
| URI: | http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/35620 |
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