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Manufacturing Wages and Imports: Evidence from the NLSY
Author(s) -
KOSTEAS VASILIOS D.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
economica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.532
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1468-0335
pISSN - 0013-0427
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-0335.2007.00591.x
Subject(s) - economics , blue collar , wage , differential (mechanical device) , labour economics , collar , real wages , wage growth , efficiency wage , point (geometry) , geometry , mathematics , finance , engineering , aerospace engineering
This paper analyses the effect of imports on US manufacturing wages using the NLSY79 data‐set, estimating differential impacts on blue‐ and white‐collar wages. I find that rising imports put downward pressure on wages between 1979 and 1988. This correlation holds for both white‐ and blue‐collar workers, with a somewhat stronger impact on the latter group. Evidence suggests that imports from low‐wage countries are responsible for the negative relationship between imports and wages, but only for blue‐collar wages. A one‐percentage‐point increase in the low‐wage import share is associated with a 2.8% decline in blue‐collar wages.