Trade and technology : decomposing the rise of the skill premium in the colombian manufacturing sector

In this paper I develop a framework that provides a simple and explicit mechanism for understanding and quantifying the role of trade and technology in the rise of the skill premium in developing countries. The distinguishing features of the model can be summarized as follows: Under capital-skill co...

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Autores:
Gutiérrez Sourdis, Catalina
Tipo de recurso:
Work document
Fecha de publicación:
2012
Institución:
Universidad de los Andes
Repositorio:
Séneca: repositorio Uniandes
Idioma:
eng
OAI Identifier:
oai:repositorio.uniandes.edu.co:1992/8298
Acceso en línea:
http://hdl.handle.net/1992/8298
Palabra clave:
Mano de obra - Costos - Investigaciones - Colombia
Política laboral - Investigaciones - Colombia
Mercado laboral - Investigaciones - Colombia
Distribución del ingreso - Investigaciones - Colombia
Rights
openAccess
License
https://repositorio.uniandes.edu.co/static/pdf/aceptacion_uso_es.pdf
Description
Summary:In this paper I develop a framework that provides a simple and explicit mechanism for understanding and quantifying the role of trade and technology in the rise of the skill premium in developing countries. The distinguishing features of the model can be summarized as follows: Under capital-skill complementarity, a rise in the demand for capital will increase the wage gap. Three different forces may spur demand for capital. First, increased trade, which may raise output as well as lower the cost of imported machinery and equipment. Second, technological change, understood as a decrease in the price of capital. Finally, structural reforms may also affect the demand for capital by changing its relative price. Based on the model, an empirical methodology is developed to quantify the contribution of each of these factors to the rise in the skill premium of the Colombian manufacturing sector. I find that trade liberalization accounted for