We propose a theory that rising globalization and rising wage inequality are related because trade liberalization raises the demand facing highly competitive skill-intensive firms. In our model, only the lowest-cost firms participate in the global economy exactly along the lines of Melitz...

Recent estimates of the U.S. economic gains that would result from the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) are very small — only 0.13 percent of GDP by 2025. Taking into account the un-equalizing effect of trade on wages, this paper finds the median wage earner will probably lose as a...

Over the last thirty years, both developed and developing countries have experienced a huge globalization of their economies, which has coincided with an increase in intra-country income inequality, both within and between skill groups. This article surveys the key mechanisms of the...

Employees of globalized firms face a more uncertain stream of earnings and riskier employment prospects. However, they also have stronger incentives to train and upgrade their skills and benefit from more rapid careers. Hence, the costs of uncertainty and the benefits of skill upgrading...

This paper re-examines the role of labor-market competition as a determinant of attitudes toward immigration. We claim two main contributions. First, we use more sophisticated measures of the degree of exposure to competition from immigrants than previously done. In addition to education, we...

Within the context of a product variety model, this paper examines the impact of outsourcing of skill-intensive tasks on the skilled–unskilled wage gap. Outsourcing affects the wage gap through direct as well as indirect channels. While outsourcing decreases the effective wage of skilled...

The recent economic policy debate in Germany emphasizes the impact of globalization of the world economy on the German labor market. This paper provides an empirical analysis of the relationship between trade and the labor market in West Germany for the period from 1970 until German...

Building on a Heckscher-Ohlin-Samuelson framework with factor price rigidities, this paper provides an empirical analysis of the relationship between trade, technical progress, and the labor market in West Germany for the period from 1970 until 1990. The analysis builds on relative product...

This paper re-examines the role of labor-market competition as a determinant of attitudes toward immigration. We claim two main contributions. First, we use more sophisticated measures of the degree of exposure to competition from immigrants than previously done. Specifically, we focus on the...

This paper studies the effect of trade liberalization on an under-explored aspect of wage inequality - gender inequality. We consider a model where firms differ in their productivity and workers are differentiated by skill as well as gender. A reduction in tariffs induces more productive firms...