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  4. Summer 1995
  5. Income Inequality and Trade: How to Think, What to Conclude

Journal of Economic Perspectives

ISSN 0895-3309 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7965 (Online)

Income Inequality and Trade: How to Think, What to Conclude

  • J. David Richardson
Journal of Economic Perspectives
vol. 9, no. 3, Summer 1995
(pp. 33–55)
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Abstract

Recent econometric work and growing analytical consensus suggest that exogenous international market pressures are a contributing factor to trends in U.S. wage/earnings inequality. Trade accounts for a share of these inequality trends close to or somewhat greater than its 10-15 percent share of economic activity, especially over medium-term horizons and dependent on precise definition. Trade is neither a trivial influence nor a dominant one. Evidence exists that its influence has declined slightly in the past decade, however. Rapid technological growth in exportable sectors seems more important.

Citation

Richardson, J David. 1995. "Income Inequality and Trade: How to Think, What to Conclude." Journal of Economic Perspectives, 9 (3): 33–55. DOI: 10.1257/jep.9.3.33

JEL Classification

  • J31 Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
  • F14 Country and Industry Studies of Trade
  • J21 Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
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