Trade liberalization and wage inequality: New insights from a dynamic trade model with heterogeneous firms and comparative advantage

Arbeitspapier

We develop a dynamic general equilibrium trade model with comparative advantage, heterogeneous firms, heterogeneous workers and endogenous firm entry to study wage inequality during the adjustment after trade liberalization. We find that trade liberalization increases wage inequality both in the short run and in the long run. In the short run, wage inequality is mainly driven by an increase in inter-sectoral wage inequality, while in the medium to long run, wage inequality is driven by an increase in the skill premium. Incorporating worker training in the model considerably reduces the effects of trade liberalization on wage inequality. The effects on wage inequality are much more adverse when trade liberalization is unilateral instead of bilateral or restricted to specific sectors instead of including all sectors.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: Kiel Working Paper ; No. 1886

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity ; Neoclassical Models of Trade ; Trade and Labor Market Interactions ; Job, Occupational, and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion
• Subject: trade liberalization ; wage inequality ; adjustment dynamics

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Lechthaler, Wolfgang ; Mileva, Mariya
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW)
• (where): Kiel
• (when): 2013

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/88766
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:41 AM CET