Estimating the Impact of Trade and Offshoring on American Workers Using the Current Population Surveys

We link industry-level data on trade and offshoring with individual-level worker data from the Current Population Surveys. We find that occupational exposure to globalization is associated with larger wage effects than industry exposure. This effect has been overlooked because it operates between rather than within sectors of the economy. We also find that globalization is associated with a reallocation of workers across sectors and occupations. We estimate wage losses of 2 to 4 percent among workers leaving manufacturing and 4 to 11 percent among workers who also switch occupations. These effects are most pronounced for workers who perform routine tasks.

You may purchase this paper on-line in .pdf format from SSRN.com ($5) for electronic delivery.

This paper was revised on December 5, 2011

Acknowledgments

Machine-readable bibliographic record - MARC, RIS, BibTeX