Trade, Technology and Labour Markets-Empirical Controversies in the Light of the Jones Model

Trade, Technology and Labour Markets-Empirical Controversies in the Light of the Jones Model

The deterioration of the income and employment position of unskilled workers in the OECD since the 1980s is a well-documented fact. The debate about the causes of this development is dominated by two competing hypotheses, “North-South Trade” (“globalisation”) and technological progress. Several empirical methodologies have been used to identify and quantify the importance of these two explanations: factor content analyses, consistency checks, regression analyses and numerical methods. However, no consensus has been achieved so far and there is considerable methodological controversy. This paper uses Jones`s (1965) exposition of the standard trade model as analytical backbone to identify and settle the sources of disagreement, to provide a synthesis of existing results, to derive new insights, and to provide a comprehensive assessment of the aforementioned empirical methodologies.