Trade Liberalization and Labor Market Adjustment in Brazil

Pavcnik, Nina ; Blom, Andreas ; Goldberg, Pinelopi ; Schady, Norbert

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: AVERAGE TARIFF LEVELS;    CHANGES IN TRADE;    CURRENT ACCOUNT;    CURRENT ACCOUNT DEFICIT;    DEVELOPED COUNTRIES;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-2982
RP-ID  :  WPS2982

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

The authors study the impact of the1988-94 trade liberalization in Brazil on wage distribution.They explore three main channels through which tradeliberalization could have affected wage distribution: (1)increasing returns to skilled workers because ofHecksher-Ohlin adjustments to trade policy; (2)trade-induced skill-biased technological change; and (3)changes in industry wage premiums. The results suggest thattrade reform in Brazil did contribute to the growing skillpremium through skill-biased technological change, which waspartially instigated by increased foreign competition. Theauthors also find that sector-specific returns to skillincreased more in sectors with bigger tariff reductions. Butthey find little support for Hecksher-Ohlin type adjustmentsto trade reform. Overall, the effects of trade reform onwage inequality seem relatively small.