TY  - JOUR
AU  - Hanson,Gordon H.
AU  - Harrison,Ann
TI  - Trade, Technology, and Wage Inequality
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 5110
PY  - 1995
Y2  - May 1995
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w5110
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w5110.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Gordon H. Hanson
IR/PS 0519
University of California, San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla, CA  92093-0519
Tel: 858/822-5087
Fax: 858/534-3939
E-Mail: gohanson@ucsd.edu

Ann Harrison
Department of Agricultural
and Resource Econonmics
University of California, Berkeley
210 Giannini Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720
Tel: 510/643-9676
Fax: 510/643-8911
E-Mail: ann.harrison@berkeley.edu
AB  - In Mexico during the 1980s, the wages of more-educated, more- experienced workers rose relative to those of less-educated, less- experienced workers.  We assess the extent to which the increase in the skilled-unskilled wage gap was associated with Mexico's recent trade reform.  In particular, we examine whether trade reform has shifted employment towards industries that are relatively intensive in the use of skilled labor (Stolper-Samuelson-type effects).  The results suggest that the rising wage gap is associated with changes internal to industries and even internal to plants that cannot be explained by Stolper-Samuelson-type effects.  We also find that other characteristics associated with globalization -- such as foreign investment and export orientation -- matter.  Exporting firms and joint ventures pay higher wages to skilled workers and demand more skilled labor than other firms.
ER  -