The new Ricardian specific factor model

This paper explores the implications on trade and wage inequality of introducing financial capital or credit in the standard Ricardian model of production, where a given amount of start-up credit is used to employ sector specific skilled and unskilled workers following the Wage Fund approach of classical economists. Thus, we have the Specific Factor (SF) structure of Jones (1971) in a new Ricardian model (NRM) with credit and two types of labour. With an entirely different mechanism from the conventional Neo-Classical structure, distributional consequences of changes in endowments, commodity prices, and financial capital are established. Comparisons with Jones (1971) show that unlike SF model, credit expansion affects wages and nominal costs without affecting trade patterns, while rise in the relative price of the skill-intensive good causes skilled wage to hike less than proportionately, and may cause return to capital to inflate more than the wages. We extend the basic model to analyse immigration, unemployment and imperfect credit market.     

The dynamic macroeconomic effects of tax policy in an overlapping generations model

The paper studies the dynamic allocation effects of tax policywithin the context of an overlapping-generations model of theBlanchard-Yaari type. The model is extended to allow for endogenouslabour supply and three tax instruments, viz. a capital tax,labour income tax, and consumption tax. Both analytical expressionsand simple diagrams are used to analyze the impact, transition,and long-run effects of tax policy changes. It is shown thata part of the long-run incidence of capital and consumptiontaxes falls on capital when households' horizons are finitewhereas labour would fully bear the burden of these taxes inan infinite-horizon model.     

移民网络与贸易创造效应

本文基于移民网络变量考察了中国与28个样本国的双边贸易流,通过标准模型(STD)和成本对称模型(STC)的识别发现,3组指标(累积规模、相对规模和技能型移民网络)较一致表明移民网络对中国对外贸易具有积极贡献;研究还发现移民网络的成本克服效应在新兴经济体(拉美和非洲)更为显著,即移民网络更为稀缺;而贸易创造的移民消费偏好效应在亚洲和北美更为突出,表明华侨移民集聚规模的重要性。     

Trade‐Induced Unemployment: The Case of Post‐Apartheid South Africa

This paper analyses the link between changes in trade flows and labour demand in post‐apartheid South Africa (1994–2006). Although this is not the first research with regard to this topic, it is one of the few that uses a consistent trade framework. Based on a three‐dimensional Heckscher–Ohlin trade model, a theoretical framework is constructed to analyse this link. Whereas it is impossible to test the theoretical link directly because of data limitations, an indirect econometric test supports the findings of the model. This implies that the combination of increased trade and labour market rigidities was unfavourable for labour opportunities.     

A model of labour productivity and union density in British private sector unionised establishments

In this paper, a micro theoretic model of the simultaneous determinationof labour productivity and union density is developed and estimatedusing British establishment-level data from the 1990 WorkplaceEmployee Relations Survey. The main empirical finding is thathigher union bargaining power does not necessarily lower labourproductive in union firms, ceteris paribus. Separate bargainingby multiple unions has a negative effect, but productivity ishigher if management recommends union membership. There is alsoevidence that if unions can more effectively provide servicesto their members, and secure management support for union membership,union density may recover.     

Estimating the economic cost of China's new desulfur policy during her gradual accession to WTO: The case of industrial SO2 emission

To understand the potential impacts of China's accession to WTO on her new desulphur policy (gradual reduction of 10% of annual SO₂ emission by 2005 with respect to that of 2000), we construct a CGE model in which SO₂ emission is directly linked to energy input consumption in production. The model equally considers the substitution possibility between energies of different SO₂ effluent ratios by including energy as labor and capital in the constant elasticity of transformation production function. The positive externality of trade in China's economy is also included. This model is then calibrated into a 55-sector Chinese SAM for the year 1997. Four policy simulations (Business as Usual, Openness policy only, desulfur policy only, and the combination of openness and desulfur policy) are made for the period from 1997 to 2005. The results show that the environmental impact of trade, though proven to be “negative”, stays rather modest. This is owing to the industrial composition transformation that deviates the specialization of the Chinese economy towards labor-intensive sectors under the new trade liberalization process. We do not find evidence for the “pollution haven” hypothesis. Seemingly ambitious, the new desulphur policy will only bring small economic growth loss. The pollution reduction objective will be realized mainly by substitution between polluting and less or non-polluting energies. The combination of trade liberalization and pollution control policy seems to give China more flexibility in adapting her economy to the new desulphur objective. Considering these different aspects together, the total economic loss due to the new desulphur policy will be limited to only − 0.26% under the presence of trade liberalization.     

Immigrant Specificity and the Relationship between Trade and Immigration: Theory and Evidence

Studies routinely document that immigrant employment concentrates in non‐traded goods sectors and that many immigrants have low inter‐sectoral mobility. We consider these observed characteristics of immigrant employment with regard to the question of how immigration affects a nation's pattern of production and trade. We model an economy producing three goods; one is non‐traded. Domestic labor and capital are domestically mobile but internationally immobile. Allowing that some new immigrants will become specific to the non‐traded goods sector, the model indicates that the effects of immigration on output and trade depend importantly on the sectoral pattern of employment of both new and existing immigrants. Empirical investigation in a panel data set of OECD countries supports the model's prediction that immigration raises the output of non‐traded goods. Consistent with the model, we also find that immigration and trade are complements. Given its empirical support, the model's implications for immigration policy are then discussed.     

Gains from Trade: Implications for Labour Market Adjustment and Poverty Reduction in Africa

Abstract: This paper reassesses the gains from trade for sub‐Saharan Africa, and draws their implications for labour market adjustment and poverty reduction. It reviews previous studies on multilateral liberalization, focusing on the findings from Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) models with relevance to African economies. The implications of these findings for poverty reduction are discussed. Our own CGE exercise supports the hypothesis that African countries cannot expect substantial gains from further multilateral liberalization. Moreover, given the sharp contraction of import‐competing sectors in response to trade liberalization in many African economies, coupled with insufficient compensation through labour market adjustments in other sectors, this study suggests that the ultimate impact on poverty reduction is likely to be small or even negative.     

DO REAL WAGES MATTER IN AN OPEN ECONOMY? THE CASE OF SINGAPORE 1966-1987

The functioning of labour markets, especially the wage-settingmechanism, is a causal factor determining the success or failureof export-led growth. Fields, 1984 Unemployment reflects an economy's failure to adjust to thecircumstances and opportunities of today, to the changing pattern,to new competition from abroad; to innovation and technologicaldevelopment; and to world economic pressures The countries thathave met this challenge successfully are those with efficient,competitive, innovative and responsive labour and goods markets.Improving the working of the labour market is particularly important. Department of Employment, 1985     

Crisis and Pension System Design in the EU: International Spillover Effects Via Factor Mobility and Trade

Many European Union states have adjusted pension benefits or reformed the pension system in reaction to the recent economic crisis, while other member states have postponed this type of adjustments. In this paper we study to what extent countries that responded quickly to the crisis are harmed by the lingering in other member states via international spillover effects caused by factor mobility and trade. We show that this depends crucially on the degree of labour mobility in the short run. In fact, countries with more flexible pensions can benefit from the inflexibility of pensions in other countries if they can temporarily limit immigration.     

Adjustment,employment characteristics and intra-industry trade

Adjustment, Employment Characteristics and Intra-Industry Trade. — In this paper we use data on individual workers to investigate a number of dimensions of adjustment and relate these to trade. Specifically, we estimate the relative incidence of changes in workers’ employment status with regard to sector, firm, occupation and region. We relate the incidence of adjustment to a range of labour market characteristics and indicators of trade exposure. Our findings are not consistent with the notion that there is a systematic relationship between the type of trade expansion (inter- or intra-industry) and the type of employment adjustment (within or between industry adjustment) or that there is less labour market adjustment associated with intra- than inter-industry trade.     

Does Immigration Help to Explain Intra-Industry Trade? Evidence for Spain

This paper argues and provides evidence that the stock of immigrants in a country has a positive effect on the share of its bilateral intra-industry trade (IIT). The paper links the literatures about immigration and trade and about IIT determinants. The key is that immigration contributes to trade transaction costs reduction and this would benefit the trade in differentiated products, i.e. IIT, more than the trade in homogeneous products, i.e. inter-industry trade. We test this hypothesis using Spanish data and departing from the models developed by Helpman. Results are robust to different IIT measures, estimation methods and specifications. JEL no. F10, F22, F14     

The link between immigration and trade: Evidence from the United Kingdom

Immigration and Trade: Evidence from the United Kingdom. — This paper investigates the link between immigration and trade using recent UK data. Immigration from non-Commonwealth countries is shown to have a significant export-enhancing effect. By contrast, immigration from Commonwealth countries is found to have no substantial impact on exports. We conjecture that this could be because immigrants from the UK’s former colonies do not bring with them any new information that can help substantially reduce the transaction cost of trade between their home countries and the host nation. The study also reveals a pro-imports effect of immigration from the non-Commonwealth countries, whereas immigration from the Commonwealth appears to be reducing imports, perhaps reflecting trade-substituting activities by immigrants.     

The dynamics of international competitiveness

The Dynamics of International Competitiveness. — This paper focuses on the determinants of international competitiveness over the seventies and eighties. The theoretical framework adopted here is based on a “technology-gap” account of trade flows. The econometric analysis relies on a dynamic model estimated by pooling time-series across countries. The short- and long-term impacts of both technical change and labour costs on trade performance are investigated. It is found that technological variables (patents and investments) play a major role in shaping dynamics of exportshares, while labour costs asymmetries among countries appear to affect trade performance only in the short term.     

THE EMPIRICAL FAILURE OF THE LIFE CYCLE MODEL WITH PERFECT CAPITAL MARKETS

The paper calibrates a life cycle model which incorporates standardassumptions, similar to those in Modighani's (1986) ‘strippeddown’ version, including perfect capital markets. Theresulting model generates strongly counter-factual predictions,planned wealth is negative for all or most of life, followinga W-shaped rather than a hump-shaped profile. (Equivalently,the debt profile is M-shaped.) The paper argues that introducingcapital market imperfections can resolve many of the problems,though some issues remain, and further research is warranted ‘The hypothesis of utility maximisation (and perfect markets)has, all by itself, one very powerful implication—theresources that a representative consumer allocates to consumptionat any age, t, will depend only on his life resources (the presentvalue of labour income plus bequests received, if any) whencombined with the self-evident proposition that the representativeconsumer will choose to consume at a reasonably stable rate,close to his anticipated average life consumption the size ofsaving over short periods of time, like a year, will be swayedby the extent to which current income departs from average liferesources the main parameter that controls the wealth-incomeratio and the saving rate for given growth is the prevailinglength of retirement’ (Modigliani, 1986, pp 299 and 301)     

Reconciling Output and Unemployment Fiscal Multipliers

ABSTRACT

This paper provides a macroeconomic model that can simultaneously explain output and unemployment multipliers which are consistent with empirical evidence. To this end, this paper has merged and investigated a model with deep habit formation in private and public consumptions and a model with a labour market friction that generates involuntary unemployment stemming from the monopolistic power of differentiated labour services. The model with a baseline calibration seems to produce quantitatively plausible responses of key macroeconomic variables in response to a government expenditure shock.     

Trade Policy Versus Competition Policy: Substitutes or Complements?

This paper deals with the difference between trade policy and competition policy for domestic prices, wages, and employment when product and labour markets are imperfectly competitive. We show that in the presence of country-specific institutions like trade unions, trade policy and competition policy are no longer substitutes in disciplining product and labour market distortions. While both domestic entry and foreign imports affect domestic price-cost margins, they differ in their effectiveness and their impact on the domestic labour market. The results in this paper suggest that enforcement of competition policy without a sufficient degree of openness to imports is typically not a first-best outcome. While domestic entry increases union welfare, foreign imports reduce it. Competition policy in the presence of labour unions is insufficient to reduce labour market distortions, while international competition reduces both labour and product distortions.     

OPTIMAL PRE-COMMITMENT IN MACROECONOMIC POLICY: A GAME THEORETIC ANALYSIS OF FISCAL POLICY

The version of the paper published in Oxford Economic Papers(Volume 42, October 1990, pp. 695–714) erroneously omittedthe figures. This note presents the figures and briefly describesthe results they show. The paper proposed a new solution to the problem of time inconsistency.A subgame-perfect trigger strategy equilibrium was presentedin which the public expected the government to renege on itsoriginally announced policy at some later date. The government'spre-commitment to its announced policy was determined endogenouslyas part of the equilibrium. The equilibrium was illustrated using Blanchard's (1985) modelof fiscal policy. I examined the [political] problem of maintainingaggregate consumption while reducing the level of governmentdebt. The problem of time inconsistency arises in this contextbecause the government has an incentive to renege on its promiseto raise future taxes. Numerical solutions of the model showedthat the government would renege after a period that dependedon its expected tenure and preferences. Figures 1 to 4 showthe behavior of the economy under policies with no pre-commitment([t₀t^*) = 0), a moderate period of precommitment ([t₀t^*) = 33.5),and a long period of pre-commitment ([t₀t^*) = 140.2). Figure 1 shows that governments with greater credibility willprefer to push the costs of falling consumption further intothe future. This is achieved by adopting policies that promiseto raise future revenues while cutting current taxes so thatthe fall in the value of government debt is offset by the risein human wealth [see Figures 2 and 4]. One important consequenceof these policies is that the level of government debt risesduring much of the period of pre-commitment. Figure 5 is used in the appendix to prove proposition 1     

Sticky Swedes and flexible Finns: manufacturing labour markets in Finland and Sweden during the Great Depression

ABSTRACT

Nominal wage stickiness is a popular explanation for the greatness of the Great Depression. According to the sticky-wage explanation, the slow adjustment of nominal wages raised real wages above the market-clearing level, causing a reduction of output and labour, thus increasing unemployment. Explanations for nominal wage stickiness are usually sought within the labour-market institutions and their changes after the First World War. This paper examines the role of labour-market institutions by comparing manufacturing labour markets in Finland and Sweden. These two countries had quite similar economic structures, trade patterns, and exchange rate policies, but different systems of industrial relations. Results indicate that stronger trade unions and collective bargaining made nominal wages stickier in Sweden, while in Finland, where collective agreements did not exist, unions were weaker, and wage adjustment was more flexible. As a result, real product wages rose in Sweden but fell in Finland. This created in Sweden stronger pressure for reducing labour input than in Finland. Our results show on one hand that labour market institutions clearly influenced the course of the Great Depression, but on the other hand that they alone do not explain the different economic outcomes during the depression and the recovery.