Imports, Exports, and the American Worker

by Collins, Susan M.

• ISBN13: 9780815715191
• ISBN10: 0815715196
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-03-01
• Publisher: Brookings Institution Press

Summary

Will technological improvement and growth in the rest of the world cause a decline in American living standards? Can government policy in Japan and Western Europe limit the availability of high- wage jobs in America? Does expanding trade with Mexico and other developing countries with large numbers of inexpensive workers imply a continuing decline in wages for low-skilled American workers?These questions express a widespread concern about potential negative effects of import competition on domestic labor markets, but ignore potential gains to U.S. workers from exports abroad. Through U.S. exports, the rest of the world is an increasingly large indirect employer of U.S. workers, and through imports, foreign labor is an increasingly important potential substitute for U.S. workers. Bringing together the often diverse perspectives of international economists, labor economists, and policymakers, this volume analyzes how international trade affects the level and distribution of wages and employment in the United States, examines the need for government intervention, and evaluates policy options.In addition to the editor, the contributors are Jagdish Bhagwati, Columbia University and American Enterprise Institute; J. Bradford De Long, U.S. Department of the Treasury and University of California, Berkeley; I. M. Destler, University of Maryland and Institute for International Economics; Richard B. Freeman, Harvard University and London School of Economics; Louis Jacobson, WESTAT; Lori G. Kletzer, University of California, Santa Cruz; Edward Leamer, University of California, Los Angeles; Michael Piore, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Ana Revenga and Claudio Montenegro, The World Bank; Jeffrey D. Sachs and Howard Shatz, Harvard

Table of Contents

Introduction
Economic Integration and the American Worker: An Overview	p. 3
Methodology And Evidence
Trade and Wages: A Malign Relationship?	p. 49
Comment	p. 77
Comment	p. 83
General Discussion	p. 94
Will Globalization Dominate U.S. Labor Market Outcomes?	p. 101
Comment	p. 131
Comment	p. 134
General Discussion	p. 136
In Search of Stolper-Samuelson Linkages between International Trade and Lower Wages	p. 141
Comment	p. 203
Comment	p. 206
General Discussion	p. 211
International Trade and Wage Inequality in the United States: Some New Results	p. 215
Comment	p. 241
Comment	p. 245
General Discussion	p. 251
Broader Perspectives
Trade and the Social Structure of Economic Activity	p. 257
Comment	p. 287
Comment	p. 291
General Discussion	p. 298
North American Integration and Factor Price Equalization: Is There Evidence of Wage Convergence between Mexico and the United States?	p. 305
Comment	p. 334
Comment	p. 339
General Discussion	p. 343
Trade Policy and America's Standard of Living: A Historical Perspective	p. 349
Comment	p. 376
Comment	p. 380
General Discussion	p. 383
Trade Politics and Labor Issues: 1953-95	p. 389
Comment	p. 408
Comment	p. 412
General Discussion	p. 420
International Trade and Job Displacement in U.S. Manufacturing: 1979-91	p. 423
Comment	p. 457
Comment	p. 460
General Discussion	p. 467
Compensation Programs	p. 473
Comment	p. 524
Comment	p. 529
General Discussion	p. 533
Conference Participants	p. 539
Index	p. 541
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