Leisure time, savings and trade patterns A two-country growth model

This paper proposes a simple two-country endogenous growth model with endogenous consumption, leisure time and wealth accumulation. The model examines possible causes for the world economic growth and the existence and persistence of trade patterns between countries with different preferceces and human capital under internationally free capital mobility. We show how differences in preferences in consumption, leisure time and wealth between the two countries may affect long-run world economic growth.     

Four Simple Tests of Campaign Contributions and Trade Policy Preferences

This paper uses campaign contribution data to examine trade policy preferences among political action committees. With perfect factor mobility, as the Heckscher–Ohlin (HO) model assumes, interest group trade positions should depend on their factor of production but not on their industry. We show, consistent with the 2 × 2 HO model, that capital groups consistently back representatives supporting trade liberalization while labor groups favor protectionists. Unlike previous work, we also measure the variation in trade policy preferences within capital and labor groups. We find evidence that the industry net export position significantly affects labor unions' trade policy preferences. Industry characteristics have no impact on capital group lobbying. The former result suggests that empirical analyses of labor PAC contributions that exclude industry characteristics may be misspecified.     

Capital Movements, Intersectoral Resource Shifts, and the Trade Balance with Recursive Preferences

This paper examines interactions between internal resource shifts and the external balance. It sets up a simple infinite-period model with recursive preferences. It shows simple patterns between capital movements and trade balances and clarifies the resource shifts between traded goods and nontraded goods sectors when world interest rate changes and government spending changes are taking place.     

International Trade and Volume Patterns under Quasilinear Preferences

We formally analyze the pattern and volume of trade by embedding quasilinear preferences in the standard perfectly competitive, two‐factor, two‐good, two‐country trade model. Quasilinear preferences deliver a natural partition of the two goods into a luxury and a necessity, and preserve the validity of the Heckscher–Ohlin and Heckscher–Ohlin–Vanek theorems. In addition, the predicted factor content of trade under quasilinear preferences is smaller (larger) than the predicted factor content of trade under homothetic preferences if and only if the luxury good is capital (labor) intensive. This result offers a novel explanation for the “missing‐trade” mystery.     

Nonhomothetic Preferences and International Trade

This study examines whether nonhomothetic preferences underlie the “missing trade” problem associated with factor content of trade models. We first find that per capita income goes a long way in explaining differences in goods consumption across countries. We then find a striking correlation between the factor content of consumption and per capita income, and show that accounting for this is a key part of resolving the case of the missing trade. However, nonhomothetic preferences over broad categories of expenditure play only a small role in this phenomenon. Rather, we find that as income grows, spending is directed towards the relatively capital‐intensive version of a given good. Since recent research shows that capital intensity is correlated with quality ( Schott, 2004 ), our results suggest that within‐product quality differences are likely important for explaining the factor content of trade, whereas nonhomothetic preferences over broad categories of expenditure are much less so.     

Why are some people (and countries) more protectionist than others?

We analyze two cross-country data sets that contain information on attitudes toward trade as well as a broad range of socio-demographic and other indicators. We find that pro-trade preferences are significantly and robustly correlated with an individual's level of human capital, in the manner predicted by the factor endowments model. Preferences over trade are also correlated with the trade exposure of the sector in which an individual is employed: individuals in non-traded sectors tend to be the most pro-trade, while individuals in sectors with a revealed comparative disadvantage are the most protectionist. Third, an individual's relative economic status has a very strong positive association with pro-trade attitudes. Finally, non-economic determinants, in the form of values, identities, and attachments, play an important role in explaining the variation in preferences over trade. High degrees of neighborhood attachment and nationalism/patriotism are associated with protectionist tendencies.     

贸易开放和人力资本形成的非线性关系——理论和基于我国省际动态面板数据的实证研究

本文通过理论模型分析了贸易开放影响人力资本积累的两种途径:改变人力资本相对报酬和国外知识溢出,贸易开放能否促进人力资本形成取决于两种途径的相对大小。同时本文使用中国省际动态面板数据对贸易开放如何影响人力资本形成进行了实证研究,发现贸易开放和人力资本之间存在U型非线性关系,即当贸易开放度比较低时,贸易开放度的提高不利于人力资本形成;而当贸易开放度达到一定程度后,贸易开放度的提高则有利于人力资本形成。     

基于VAR模型的人力资本与我国服务贸易出口关系的实证分析

人力资本到底能在多大程度上推动我国服务贸易的出口?目前国内学者对此研究的较少并且存在一定的争议。笔者利用1985年～2010年的时间序列数据进行实证分析,发现我国服务贸易的快速增长产生了对人力资本的长期大量的需求,而我国现存的大量人力资本对服务出口的贡献率却不太显著。因此,切实快速提高我国人力资本的质量是提高我国服务贸易国际竞争力的关键所在。     

Granger causality tests among openness to international trade,human capital accumulation and economic growth in China: 1952–1999

Abstract

This study examines Granger causality among openness to international trade, human capital accumulation and economic growth in China using time series data over the period from 1952 to 1999 and a sub-period, i.e. a period from 1978 to 1999. For the 1952–1999 period, economic growth is found to Granger cause human capital accumulation and not vice versa. For the 1978–1999 period, economic growth and openness to international trade, economic growth and human capital accumulation, and human capital accumulation and openness to international trade are found to have bidirectional Granger causality, respectively. Thus, there is a dynamic relationship among openness to international trade, human capital accumulation and economic growth. The experience of economic reform in China could be an example to other developing countries.     

对外贸易开放、人力资本积累与企业技术创新

企业技术创新作为科技创新的核心部分,在促进经济高质量发展中的重要性日益凸显。通过构建一个包含消费部门和生产部门的两部门模型,探究对外贸易开放及其人力资本积累效应对企业技术创新的影响机制,随后基于2011-2017年中国31个省级区域的面板数据实证检验对外贸易开放、人力资本积累及二者的交互作用对企业技术创新的影响。结果显示:从整体层面来看,对外贸易开放不仅对企业技术创新产生直接影响,还会通过人力资本积累效应对企业技术创新产生间接影响;从区域异质性角度来看,贸易开放对企业技术创新产生的直接影响和间接影响存在着空间上的非均衡特征,表现为对发达的东部地区的企业影响更为明显,而对欠发达的西部和中部地区的企业影响相对较弱;从对外贸易方式来看,全样本分析表明出口贸易方式的人力资本积累效应对企业技术创新影响作用较强,而进口贸易方式的作用相对较弱。因此,应当注重不同贸易发展方式的人力资本积累效应差异及其对企业技术创新产生的影响,增强我国通过企业技术创新促进经济高质量发展的实效。     

人力资本需求与工资差距:技术、贸易和收入的影响

人力资本水平的提高和技术贸易的发展都会促进人力资本密集型技术的进步,增加高等人力资本水平劳动力的需求,从而扩大了工资差距.在商品贸易中,制成品出口比例的增加会改变我国的产品需求结构,使高等人力资本密集型产品的生产增加.同时,居民收入水平的提高带来了消费升级,也促进了高等人力资本密集型产品的生产.高等人力资本密集型产品的生产引起了高等人力资本水平劳动力需求的增加,扩大了工资差距.     

International trade and the sectoral composition of production

This article explores the interrelations between global economic growth and the changing composition of trade. I define a global unbalanced growth path as a situation in which there exists a global constant return to capital. I use this definition to explore two claims regarding the sectoral composition of trade. First, in the long run, the comparative advantage is driven by the TFP differential, which explains the fact that less developed countries tend to export primaries even though primaries are not less capital intensive. Second, non-homothetic preferences imply that, as the global economy develops, fewer countries export only or mostly primaries.     

基于人力资本视角的中国服务贸易比较优势分析

随着全球产业结构的升级和国际贸易的发展,服务贸易成为了各国竞争的焦点。研究服务贸易比较优势的形成和转换成为了当务之急。本文从服务贸易总量、国际市场占有率、服务贸易结构三个方面对我国服务贸易的比较优势进行了测度,结果表明我国服务贸易总量增长迅速,远超于世界平均水平,但是总体竞争力低,结构不平衡。运用1982—2006年的数据,以柯布·道格拉斯生产函数为基础,构建服务贸易比较优势影响因素的多要素模型进行实证分析,回归结果显示,物质资本、劳动力、人力资本和FDI对服务贸易出口显著正相关。其中,劳动力的产出弹性最大,人力资本的产出弹性次之,说明我国服务贸易的比较优势主要来源于劳动力,人力资本的促进作用较小,从加大教育投入、增强技术创新、吸引外国投资方面提出促进我国服务贸易比较优势转换的建议。     

“This One Is 400 Libyan Dinars,This One Is 500”: Insights from Cognitive Human Capital and Slave Trade

One of the most disturbing contemporary episodes in human history that has been decried globally is the recent Libyan experience of slave trade, where migrants captured end-up being sold as slaves. We contribute to the understanding of this phenomenon by investigating the role of cognitive human capital on slave trade. To this end, we use the historic intelligence and slave trade variables, respectively, as the independent and outcome variables of interest. Our findings show a negative relationship between slave trade and cognitive human capital. Hence, the slave trade is more apparent when cognitive human capital is low. The Ordinary Least Squares findings are robust to the control for outliers, uncertainty about the model and Tobit regressions. We substantiate why from the perspective of massive sensitization and education, the non-contemporary relationship between cognitive ability and slave trade established in this study has contemporary practical policy relevance in efforts to stem the tide of clandestine travel to Europe through countries in which clandestine migrants are captured and sold as slaves.     

Factor proportions in Israel's manufacturing trade 1965–1982

This paper tries to explain changes in the foreign trade patterns of Israel's manufacturing sector in terms of changes in relative factor use during the period 1965–1982. Although the sector's comparative advantage lay in labor intensive goods in most of this period, changes in net exports were correlated positively with changes in human and physical capital use and negatively with changes in labor use. This was due to the expansion of capital intensive exports.     

International trade and capital accumulation in an overlapping generations model with a public intermediate good

We investigate the effects of a public intermediate good on trade patterns, capital accumulation, and the gains from trade in a two‐country, three‐sector overlapping generations model. A public intermediate good affects not only the productivity of private production but capital accumulation; thus, the results differ from those obtained in previous studies. First, opening to trade may accelerate capital accumulation in the higher‐savings country. Additionally, the country producing a public intermediate good more (which is labor‐intensive) may be the importer of the investment good (which is the most capital‐intensive). Finally, the lower‐savings country may have lower steady‐state welfare under trade.     

Unequal skill premiums and trade liberalization: Is education the missing link?

We examine the impact of increased trade on wage inequality in developing countries; whether higher human capital stocks moderate this effect. We find countries with a higher level of initial human capital experience less increased wage inequality following increased trade.     

Destabilization effect of international trade in a perfect foresight dynamic general equilibrium model

In the present paper, we consider a two-country, two-good, two-factor general equilibrium model with CIES nonlinear preferences, asymmetric technologies across countries and decreasing returns to scale. It is shown that aggregate instability and endogenous fluctuations may occur due to international trade. In particular, we prove that the integration into a common market on which countries trade the produced good and the capital input may lead to period-two cycles even when the closed-economy equilibrium is saddle-point stable in both countries.     

Dynamic Externalities and Policy Coordination

The paper introduces trade into dynamic models with externalities and capital accumulation, and evaluates the efficiency of the Cournot–Nash equilibrium. It considers mixed economies characterized by a blend of strategic and nonstrategic sectors. Also, there are two sources of interdependence: the existence of production externalities and the endogenous determination of market prices. It is shown that policy coordination is not needed when preferences are the same. In this case, the production externalities are internalized, so that an inefficient solution becomes the efficient integrated world equilibrium due to trade.