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wp0312.pdf
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This paper examines the role of international trade in the reallocation of U.S. manufacturing activity within and across industries from 1977 to 1997. It introduces a new measure of industry exposure to international trade, motivated by the Heckscher-Ohlin model, which focuses on where imports originate rather than their overall level. Results demonstrate that plant survival as well as output and employment growth are negatively associated with the share of industry imports sourced from the world's lowest-wage countries. Within industries, activity is reallocated towards capital-intensive plants. Plants are also more likely to alter their product mix (i.e. switch industries) in response to trade with low-wage countries. Plants altering their product mix switch to industries that are more capitaland skill-intensive.
Authors
![Person graphic](/sites/default/files/styles/square_desktop/public/2022-06/IFS-person-graphic.png?itok=hWCtTSrz)
Dartmouth University
Andrew is the Jack Byrne Professor of International Economics at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth and an International fellow of IFS. His research interests include international trade and investment and he specializes in firm responses to globalization.
![Person graphic](/sites/default/files/styles/square_desktop/public/2022-06/IFS-person-graphic.png?itok=hWCtTSrz)
Yale University
Peter is an Associate Professor of Economics at the Yale School of Management and an International Fellow of IFS.
![Person graphic](/sites/default/files/styles/square_desktop/public/2022-06/IFS-person-graphic.png?itok=hWCtTSrz)
J. Bradford Jensen
Working Paper details
- DOI
- 10.1920/wp.ifs.2003.0312
- Publisher
- IFS
Suggested citation
A, Bernard and J, Jensen and P, Schott. (2003). Survival of the best fit: exposure to low-wage countries and the (uneven) growth of US manufacturing plants. London: IFS. Available at: https://ifs.org.uk/publications/survival-best-fit-exposure-low-wage-countries-and-uneven-growth-us-manufacturing (accessed: 30 June 2024).
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