Search

This doctoral thesis consists of three independent research papers. All papers are empirical and cover the area of international trade and environmental economics, with particular focus on Swedish manufacturing firms. The first paper investigates how carbon offshoring could contribute to cleaner production. Using Swedish firm-product level data from 2005-2014, combined with instrumental variable and dynamic difference-in-difference estimation techniques, the study finds that increased imports of emission-intensive goods makes firms' production processes cleaner by 5%, but also raises transport emissions by 2%. It also highlights that offshoring through foreign direct investment (FDI) could potentially have a larger impact on reducing emissions compared to importing inputs not produced in-house.The second paper explores how import competition influences the environmental behavior of local firms in Sweden. Using detailed geographical information about the location of all manufacturing firms in Sweden, the study finds that firms facing import competition tend to become more emission efficient, with the effect diminishing as the distance between the producer and the importer increases. This emissions reduction is attributed to productivity spillovers, shifts in product mix, and investments in emissions abatement.The third paper examines the impact of energy prices on manufacturing firms by using a shift-share instrument and a dynamic difference-in-difference approaches that isolate the exogenous variation in firm-level energy prices. I find that higher energy prices, driven by increased carbon pricing, both benefit the environment by reducing emissions and have potentially harmful economics effects by lowering productivity and employment, particularly for highly skilled workers. Firms are more likely to pass on costs to consumers, worsening inflation, and the most affected are those with high energy intensity and those outside the EU Emissions Trading System (EU-ETS).

This thesis comprises four self-contained papers that rely on applied micro-econometric methods to understand which factors are important in shaping the gender wage gap in globalized firms and how firms innovate when exposed to trade-induced shocks. In the first paper, we study how the within-firm gender wage gap in Sweden is affected by the degree of gender inequality in the home country of foreign investors. The results suggest that gender norms of the home country matter-the wage gap between men and women in foreign-owned subsidiaries appears to increase with the degree of gender inequality prevailing in the investors' home market. The second paper aims to improve our understanding of how exports and the associated need for communication with foreign partners affect the gender wage gap. Our key finding is that exports of goods that are intensive in interpersonal contacts widen the gender wage gap. The negative wage effect is robust across various specifications and is most pronounced for domestic exporting firms, which mainly deal with external contractors. We ascribe this result to a male comparative advantage in bargaining-a skill that is especially needed and rewarded when serving foreign markets, where contracting problems manifest themselves.In the third paper, we examine whether exposure to gender inequality at export destinations (in the form of customer discrimination) impacts the gender wage gap in exporting firms. Relying on high-quality matched employer-employee data from Sweden, we demonstrate that exports to gender-unequal destinations increase the within-firm gender wage gap. We find the most pronounced negative wage impacts for female managers, who appear to be particularly exposed to the gender inequality of export partners.In the fourth paper, I explore how exposure to import competition across different geographical aggregations alters the innovation activity of firms in the manufacturing sector. Using detailed geographical information on the lo

This paper investigates the impact of import competition on labor market outcomes in Sweden, focusing on wages, employment, and labor productivity. We analyze a panel dataset spanning from 1992 to 2020 and employ various econometric methods, including long difference, fixed effects, and instrumental variables approaches, to examine the relationship between import competition and labor market outcome variables. Our main findings are that import competition from China is responsible for 1.74% of the decrease in Swedish manufacturing employment, 3.07% of the increase in value added and 3.86% of the industry-level average wages between 1992 and 2008. This indicate that Sweden's manufacturing market was not in a competitive state, and China's trade liberalization exposed the market to more competition, leading firms to downsize significantly and focus on increasing productivity to remain competitive.

We analyze the impact on crime of millions of refugees who entered and stayed in Turkey as a result of the civil war in Syria. Using a novel administrative data source on the flow of offense records to prosecutors' offices in 81 provinces of the country each year, and utilizing the staggered movement of refugees across provinces over time, we estimate instrumental variables models that address potential endogeneity of the number of refugees and their location and find that an increase in the number of refugees leads to more crime. We estimate that the influx of refugees between 2012 and 2016 generated additional 75,000 to 150,000 crimes per year, although it is not possible to identify the distribution of these crimes between refugees and natives. Additional analyses reveal that a low-educated native population has a separate, but smaller, effect on crime. Our results underline the need to quickly strengthen the social safety systems, to take actions to dampen the impact on the labor market, and to provide support to the criminal justice system for mitigating the repercussions of massive influx of individuals into a country, and to counter the social and political backlash that typically emerges in the wake of such large-scale population movements., We thank Ayca Akarcay, Murat Demirci, Murat Kirdar, Philip Marx, Colette Salemi, Katrin Sommerfeld, Erdal Tekin, Mutlu Yuksel, two anonymous referees, seminar participants at TED University, and the participants of the 6th Istanbul Human Capital Conference, We thank Ayca Akarcay, Murat Demirci, Murat Kirdar, Philip Marx, Colette Salemi, Katrin Sommerfeld, Erdal Tekin, Mutlu Yuksel, two anonymous referees, seminar participants at TED University, and the participants of the 6th Istanbul Human Capital Conference and MEF University Applied Microeconomics ; Policy Workshop for useful comments. The usual disclaimer holds.

Import competition from low-wage countries can worsen labor market conditions in high-income countries and undermine the sustainability of free international trade. We examine the effect of increasing manufacturing imports from China on manufacturing employment and wage earnings distribution in Sweden by employing a two-stage least squares estimation method. The empirical results indicate that, except for the transportation sector, the effect of increasing import exposure to China on manufacturing and non-manufacturing employment growth is statistically insignificant. Regarding earnings distribution, we find that the earnings growth of low-wage workers in the manufacturing sector is not significantly influenced by an increase in Chinese imports. However, wage earners at the median level or above are positively impacted by trade shocks from China. These findings have implications for seeking policy alternatives that can enhance the sustainability of the international trade order.

Import competition from low-wage countries can worsen labor market conditions in high-income countries and undermine the sustainability of free international trade. We examine the effect of increasing manufacturing imports from China on manufacturing employment and wage earnings distribution in Sweden by employing a two-stage least squares estimation method. The empirical results indicate that, except for the transportation sector, the effect of increasing import exposure to China on manufacturing and non-manufacturing employment growth is statistically insignificant. Regarding earnings distribution, we find that the earnings growth of low-wage workers in the manufacturing sector is not significantly influenced by an increase in Chinese imports. However, wage earners at the median level or above are positively impacted by trade shocks from China. These findings have implications for seeking policy alternatives that can enhance the sustainability of the international trade order.

How do imports from China affect local labour markets in Japan? We examine this question using commuting zones as regional units and analysing shock propagation through supply chains and co-location patterns. Applying the method proposed by Autor et al. (American Economic Review, 103, 2121, 2013) and Acemoglu, Autor et al. (Journal of Labor Economics, 34, S141, 2016), we examine the impact of import shocks on regional manufacturing employment using input-output tables which allows us to investigate the propagation of shocks to both upstream and downstream industries and to relate the regional impact to industry co-location patterns. We find that the negative direct effect on local employment is underestimated in previous studies that do not consider the regional propagation of the shock through supply chains, especially the positive shock to downstream industries. Downstream industries in Japan, for example, significantly benefit from imports from China as they lower input prices and increase employment. In contrast to downstream industries, we find no significant impact on upstream industries. Our results imply that the direct negative effect on local labour markets is somewhat mitigated by effects on downstream industries within the same region.

Import competition from low-wage countries can worsen labor market conditions in high-income countries and undermine the sustainability of free international trade. We examine the effect of increasing manufacturing imports from China on manufacturing employment and wage earnings distribution in Sweden by employing a two-stage least squares estimation method. The empirical results indicate that, except for the transportation sector, the effect of increasing import exposure to China on manufacturing and non-manufacturing employment growth is statistically insignificant. Regarding earnings distribution, we find that the earnings growth of low-wage workers in the manufacturing sector is not significantly influenced by an increase in Chinese imports. However, wage earners at the median level or above are positively impacted by trade shocks from China. These findings have implications for seeking policy alternatives that can enhance the sustainability of the international trade order.

[eng] Whenever import tariffs are lowered and national firms face a growing competition, productivity must be enhanced in order to survive. Thanks to the ESEE survey where Spanish manufacturing firms provide information about their financial situation, the effect of an increase in import competition may be analysed. Using different econometric methods, I conclude that Spanish family firms, and especially those who are initially less productive, react to it by increasing greatly their labour productivity., [eus] Inportazioen muga-zergak murrizten direnean eta enpresa nazionalek gero eta lehia handiagoa dutenean, produktibitatea handitu egin behar da bizirik iraun ahal izateko. Espainiako manufaktura-enpresek beren finantza-egoerari buruzko informazioa ematen duten ESEE inkestari esker, inportazioen lehia handitzearen eragina azter daiteke. Metodo ekonometriko desberdinak erabiliz, ondorioztatzen dut Espainiako familia-enpresek, eta batez ere hasieran hain produktiboak ez direnek, beren lan-produktibitatea neurri handi batean handituz erantzuten dutela., [spa] Cuando se reducen los aranceles de importación y las empresas nacionales se enfrentan a una competencia creciente, la productividad debe ser aumentada para poder sobrevivir. Gracias a la encuesta ESEE, en la que las empresas manufactureras españolas proporcionan información sobre su situación financiera, se puede analizar el efecto de un aumento de la competencia de las importaciones. Utilizando diferentes métodos econométricos, concluyo que las empresas familiares españolas, y especialmente las que son inicialmente menos productivas, reaccionan aumentando en gran medida su productividad laboral.

Import competition from low-wage countries can worsen labor market conditions in high-income countries and undermine the sustainability of free international trade. We examine the effect of increasing manufacturing imports from China on manufacturing employment and wage earnings distribution in Sweden by employing a two-stage least squares estimation method. The empirical results indicate that, except for the transportation sector, the effect of increasing import exposure to China on manufacturing and non-manufacturing employment growth is statistically insignificant. Regarding earnings distribution, we find that the earnings growth of low-wage workers in the manufacturing sector is not significantly influenced by an increase in Chinese imports. However, wage earners at the median level or above are positively impacted by trade shocks from China. These findings have implications for seeking policy alternatives that can enhance the sustainability of the international trade order.

Import competition from low-wage countries can worsen labor market conditions in high-income countries and undermine the sustainability of free international trade. We examine the effect of increasing manufacturing imports from China on manufacturing employment and wage earnings distribution in Sweden by employing a two-stage least squares estimation method. The empirical results indicate that, except for the transportation sector, the effect of increasing import exposure to China on manufacturing and non-manufacturing employment growth is statistically insignificant. Regarding earnings distribution, we find that the earnings growth of low-wage workers in the manufacturing sector is not significantly influenced by an increase in Chinese imports. However, wage earners at the median level or above are positively impacted by trade shocks from China. These findings have implications for seeking policy alternatives that can enhance the sustainability of the international trade order.

Over the last decades, the adverse effects of increased international trade and the rapid rate of globalization have been widely discussed - with labor markets in focus. This study examines the effect of increasing imports from China on manufacturing employment in Nordic countries. I analyze the effect of rising Chinese import competition over the years 1995 to 2020 by employing a two-stage least squares estimation method. The results found indicate that the effect of increasing import exposure from China has no statistically significant effect on Nordic countries’ manufacturing employment growth in the past decade. Although, it is found that the import penetration ratio, accounting for Chinese imports, has a small positive effect on the growth of manufacturing employment when testing for the whole sample. When testing for the years between 2000 and 2010, capturing the early years following China’s entry into the WTO, I find weakly statistically significant results implying that increased import exposure from China had a negative effect on the manufacturing employment growth.

Este artículo analiza la contribución de la competencia de importaciones a la divergencia regional entre áreas metropolitanas de Estados Unidos. Se acredita que el fuerte aumento de las importaciones de bienes manufactureros de China tuvo un impacto significativo en la polarización geográfica en términos de talento y en la divergencia de la prima salarial de educación entre los mercados de trabajo locales. Los efectos del shock comercial chino fueron significativamente distintos dependiendo de la intensidad en mano de obra cualificada de los sectores de servicios locales. Entre las regiones con servicios intensivos en cualificación, una mayor exposición a las importaciones de manufacturas supuso un aumento tanto del número como de los salarios reales de los trabajadores cualificados. Los efectos negativos del shock se concentraron en las regiones expuestas y con una baja densidad de trabajadores cualificados. La heterogeneidad de los efectos de la competencia de importaciones explica un tercio de la polarización de trabajadores cualificados y un cuarto de la divergencia de la prima salarial. Se muestra que la contribución del shock de comercio internacional opera a través de la recolocación de trabajadores entre sectores y regiones. Usando una nueva medida de «exposición al shock a través del mercado laboral», se documenta que las industrias de servicios se expanden cuando las manufacturas locales se enfrentan a una mayor competencia internacional. Las regiones con alto nivel de capital humano expuestas al shock de importaciones chinas realizan una transición más rápida desde industrias manufactureras hacia servicios de alta cualificación y atraen a trabajadores cualificados de otras regiones., This paper analyzes the contribution of import competition to the regional divergence among US metropolitan areas over recent decades. I document that the sharp rise in imports of Chinese manufacturing goods had a significant effect on the spatial skill polarization and the divergence of college wage premium among local labor markets. The effects of the China trade shock were systematically different depending on the skill intensity of local services. Among regions with skill-intensive services, a higher exposure to import competition in manufacturing increased the number and wages of college-educated workers. The negative effects of the China shock concentrated in exposed regions with a low density of college-educated workers. The heterogeneous effects of import competition explain one third of the spatial skill polarization and one fourth of the divergence in college wage premium. I show that the contribution of the trade shock operates through the reallocation of workers across sectors and regions. Using a novel measure of “labor market exposure to the China shock”, I document that service industries expand when local manufacturers face import competition. High human capital regions exposed to the China shock undergo a faster transition from manufacturing to skill-intensive service industries and attract college-educated workers from other locations.

Summary of Banco de España Working Paper no. 2115

Around the world the rise of populist and anti-globalization forces can be seen. In Sweden this movement is prevalent as well, as the populist party the Sweden Democrats is experiencing a substantial increase in support. The reason for this is a widely debated subject amongst scholars. One potential explanation for the rise of populism could be the increased imports from China in recent years. Previous studies show evidence that the Chinese import penetration has had an impact on the rise of populism in United States, yet no research on this topic exist for Sweden so far. Thus, this paper examines whether increased Chinese imports to the Swedish market has impacted the rise of the Sweden Democrats. This is accomplished by using the prominent framework developed by Autor et al. (2013) to calculate the so called “China Shock” and then regressing the Chinese import shock on change in the election results of the Sweden Democrats over the time period 1998-2018. The study takes into account both the short- term and long-term effects of the rise of the Sweden Democrats since it looks at time periods close to China’s entry to the WTO and time periods that are further away from their entry. Our results indicate that there is some significant effect from the import shock on the votes for the Sweden Democrats both in the short-run and in the long-run. Moreover, we find that the long-term effects seem to have had a larger impact than the short-term effect. Although our data is too limited to assert anything, a cautionary estimate of the import shock indicates an impact of two percentage points between high-shock county and low-shock county 2010 to 2014.

Around the world the rise of populist and anti-globalization forces can be seen. In Sweden this movement is prevalent as well, as the populist party the Sweden Democrats is experiencing a substantial increase in support. The reason for this is a widely debated subject amongst scholars. One potential explanation for the rise of populism could be the increased imports from China in recent years. Previous studies show evidence that the Chinese import penetration has had an impact on the rise of populism in United States, yet no research on this topic exist for Sweden so far. Thus, this paper examines whether increased Chinese imports to the Swedish market has impacted the rise of the Sweden Democrats. This is accomplished by using the prominent framework developed by Autor et al. (2013) to calculate the so called “China Shock” and then regressing the Chinese import shock on change in the election results of the Sweden Democrats over the time period 1998-2018. The study takes into account both the short- term and long-term effects of the rise of the Sweden Democrats since it looks at time periods close to China’s entry to the WTO and time periods that are further away from their entry. Our results indicate that there is some significant effect from the import shock on the votes for the Sweden Democrats both in the short-run and in the long-run. Moreover, we find that the long-term effects seem to have had a larger impact than the short-term effect. Although our data is too limited to assert anything, a cautionary estimate of the import shock indicates an impact of two percentage points between high-shock county and low-shock county 2010 to 2014.

This paper examines the effect of import competition on corporate tax avoidance. I exploit the rapid surge of China’s exports as a competition shock and balance sheets and income statements to measure tax avoidance of US-headquartered publicly listed manufacturing firms. The baseline results reveal that a 1 percentage point increase in the penetration ratio of US imports from China entails, on average, a 0.20 percentage point decrease in the effective tax rate. They are supported by a series of sensitivity tests and robust to using the US conferral of the Permanent Normal Trade Relations status on China in late 2000 as a quasi-natural experiment. Furthermore, the results are entirely driven by multinational firms. In response to the China shock, these firms invested in intangible assets, and these intangibles allowed them to shift more profits towards low-tax countries. These findings shed light on the determinants of corporate tax avoidance. More generally, they help understand the decline in the average effective tax rate of US publicly listed firms and the recent backlash against large firms and globalization., info:eu-repo/semantics/published

The recent backlash against free trade is partially motivated by the decline in manufacturing employment due to rising import competition from China. Previous studies about the “China syndrome” neglect the role of trade policy. This is surprising, given that politicians in high-income countries have extensively used antidumping (AD) measures to protect their economies from rising Chinese imports. In this paper, I estimate the causal effect of trade protection on imports and employment, by constructing a new instrument for AD measures based on industries’ importance in swing states and experience in filing AD petitions. I show that AD duties have reduced import competition, decreasing the annual growth rate of US imports from China by 0.40 percentage points on average. They have also helped contain the China syndrome, by increasing the annual growth rate of employment in protected industries by 0.07 percentage points. These results show that protectionist instruments allowed under GATT/WTO rules can be used to attenuate the effects of import competition on employment., info:eu-repo/semantics/published

The increase in the share of high- and low-wage employment at the expense of middle-wage employment has been a striking feature of the US economy. We exploit differences across local labor markets in the exposure to Global Value Chains (GVCs), Chinese import competition and automation to study the drivers of this labor market polarization. Using value added trade data, we are able to correctly assign trade-related shocks to local labor markets, based on the source of value added. Across the 722 commuting zones that approximate US local labor markets, we find that employment polarization is mainly driven by their exposure to automation. GVCs lead to an increase in the employment share of relatively high-wage occupations (which we call ‘skill upgrading’), while import competition from China leads to an increase in the employment share of relatively low-wage occupations (which we call ‘skill downgrading’). Trade as a combination of the two thus may contribute to employment polarization but to a lesser extent than automation.

The increase in the share of high- and low-wage employment at the expense of middle-wage employment has been a striking feature of the US economy. We exploit differences across local labor markets in the exposure to Global Value Chains (GVCs), Chinese import competition and automation to study the drivers of this labor market polarization. Using value added trade data, we are able to correctly assign trade-related shocks to local labor markets, based on the source of value added. Across the 722 commuting zones that approximate US local labor markets, we find that employment polarization is mainly driven by their exposure to automation. GVCs lead to an increase in the employment share of relatively high-wage occupations (which we call ‘skill upgrading’), while import competition from China leads to an increase in the employment share of relatively low-wage occupations (which we call ‘skill downgrading’). Trade as a combination of the two thus may contribute to employment polarization but to a lesser extent than automation.

The increase in the share of high- and low-wage employment at the expense of middle-wage employment has been a striking feature of the US economy. We exploit differences across local labor markets in the exposure to Global Value Chains (GVCs), Chinese import competition and automation to study the drivers of this labor market polarization. Using value added trade data, we are able to correctly assign trade-related shocks to local labor markets, based on the source of value added. Across the 722 commuting zones that approximate US local labor markets, we find that employment polarization is mainly driven by their exposure to automation. GVCs lead to an increase in the employment share of relatively high-wage occupations (which we call ‘skill upgrading’), while import competition from China leads to an increase in the employment share of relatively low-wage occupations (which we call ‘skill downgrading’). Trade as a combination of the two thus may contribute to employment polarization but to a lesser extent than automation.

Recent years’ political development in Europe as well as in the US reflects a growing support for anti-globalization movements, protectionism and stronger nation-states. The victory for the Leave option in the Brexit referendum further emphasized this development, since many of these views were promoted by the Leave side. Previous research has investigated the relationship between globalization in terms of increased international trade and political behavior by studying the effects on regional labor markets from trade with China. An extensive literature has grown around the method of using China’s rapid economic emergence and accession to the WTO in 2001 since it constitutes an exogenous import shock to many developed countries. This study continues this literature by investigating the impact of increased international trade, measured through the so-called China import shock, on voters’ attitudes and voting behavior in the Brexit referendum. Through a cross-sectional study, this paper contributes to existing literature by including the perspective of attitudes since it makes it possible to investigate whether a vote for Leave was a way of expressing general dissatisfaction or a direct protest vote against international trade and globalization. The results of this paper suggest that no support can be found for the import shock having effect on neither voting behavior nor voters’ attitudes in Brexit. Nevertheless, individual and regional factors were on the other hand found to have significant positive effect, indicating that older and less educated people in regions with higher unemployment rates were more likely to both support the Leave option and to express negative attitudes toward trade and globalization.

In Chapter 1, I define a novel concept of low productivity spells. Instead of treating productivity as a continuous variable, I define a low-productivity state as poor productivity growth over 2 years consecutively. This provides an alternative insight into understanding firms which pose a potential drag on aggregate productivity growth. Using a competing risk framework, I find that over the course of 1991--2014, the exposure of import competition from China had a significant and negative effect on the exit from these low-productivity spells into high-productivity performance for listed firms in the U.S. On the other hand, this import exposure had no effect on the same firms shutting down. Together, these imply that the growth in import penetration from China had the effect of trapping U.S. manufacturing firms in low-productivity spells for longer. In Chapter 2, I investigate the effect of the America Invents Act (AIA) in 2011 on the patents granted by small firm compared with large firms. In first constructing my dataset, I further bootstrap the algorithm proposed by Autor, Dorn, Hanson, Pisano and Shu (2017) in merging patent data from the United States Patents and Trademarks Office USPTO with firm-level data from COMPUSTAT to better correct for false positives and true negatives, as well as enabling it to be more replicable. With a difference-in-difference framework using de-trended patenting data, I find a negative effect by the AIA on patents granted to small firms compared with large firms. However, this effect appears to be driven primarily by the amount of cash holdings firms have. A triple-difference framework which includes cash holdings finds the AIA had no significant effect on the patents granted to small firms which are cash-poor compared with large firms which are also cash-poor. In Chapter 3, I examine the effect of Chinese import competition on innovation by U.S. manufacturing firms originally investigated by Autor, Dorn, Hanson, Pisano and Shu (201

Recent years’ political development in Europe as well as in the US reflects a growing support for anti-globalization movements, protectionism and stronger nation-states. The victory for the Leave option in the Brexit referendum further emphasized this development, since many of these views were promoted by the Leave side. Previous research has investigated the relationship between globalization in terms of increased international trade and political behavior by studying the effects on regional labor markets from trade with China. An extensive literature has grown around the method of using China’s rapid economic emergence and accession to the WTO in 2001 since it constitutes an exogenous import shock to many developed countries. This study continues this literature by investigating the impact of increased international trade, measured through the so-called China import shock, on voters’ attitudes and voting behavior in the Brexit referendum. Through a cross-sectional study, this paper contributes to existing literature by including the perspective of attitudes since it makes it possible to investigate whether a vote for Leave was a way of expressing general dissatisfaction or a direct protest vote against international trade and globalization. The results of this paper suggest that no support can be found for the import shock having effect on neither voting behavior nor voters’ attitudes in Brexit. Nevertheless, individual and regional factors were on the other hand found to have significant positive effect, indicating that older and less educated people in regions with higher unemployment rates were more likely to both support the Leave option and to express negative attitudes toward trade and globalization.

We study the effects of import competition on workers' mental distress, using unique longitudinal data on mental health for British residents, coupled with measures of import competition in more than 100 industries over 1995–2007. We find that import competition has a large negative impact on individual mental health. Compared to a worker employed in the industry at the 25th percentile of the import competition distribution, a worker employed in the industry at the 75th percentile would need a yearly monetary compensation of £270 to make up for her greater utility loss. We find import competition to have larger effects on the right tail of the mental distress distribution, thereby increasing inequality in mental health not only across but also within industries. We show that this is consistent with import competition disproportionately hitting specific groups of workers in an industry, such as the youngest or those with a large family, a poor financial condition, a short job tenure, a temporary contract, and a blue-collar or tradable job. Using information on family ties, we find that import competition has negative spillovers to other family members. In particular, women's mental distress increases as a consequence of the import competition faced by their partners. Moreover, paternal import competition leads to reduced investment in child rearing and worsened children's self-esteem and life satisfaction. Finally, we provide evidence that import competition is likely to work through a complex set of channels. These include observable labor market outcomes such as higher likelihood of job displacement and lower wage growth, but also reduced job satisfaction and gloomier expectations about the future.

Germany and Italy are the largest manufacturing producers in Europe and export over 70% of their products to OECD countries. While they share many characteristics, they are also diverse in term of specialization and destination markets. Italy has a productive structure largely based on labour intensive sectors, while Germany is mainly specialized in high-tech goods. We study whether these characteristics make the two countries vulnerable in different ways to the competitive pressure by emerging economies, especially China, which experienced the strongest increase in export market share during the last decades. We discuss the impact of China on the export performance of Italy and Germany on OECD markets. Using data for the period 1995-2009, we implement a novel model to account for two important data characteristics: their hierarchical hidden structure (captured by a multilevel model) and the heterogeneity of the export shares (captured by a quantile approach). Results show that Chinese competition on Italy's and Germany's market shares differ by sectors, but, on average, Italy is not more vulnerable than Germany. These results are relevant for policy implications and for an ex-post analysis of the best response' to the Chinese competition.

Germany and Italy are the largest manufacturing producers in Europe and export over 70% of their products to OECD countries. While they share many characteristics, they are also diverse in term of specialization and destination markets. Italy has a productive structure largely based on labour intensive sectors, while Germany is mainly specialized in high-tech goods. We study whether these characteristics make the two countries vulnerable in different ways to the competitive pressure by emerging economies, especially China, which experienced the strongest increase in export market share during the last decades. We discuss the impact of China on the export performance of Italy and Germany on OECD markets. Using data for the period 1995-2009, we implement a novel model to account for two important data characteristics: their hierarchical hidden structure (captured by a multilevel model) and the heterogeneity of the export shares (captured by a quantile approach). Results show that Chinese competition on Italy's and Germany's market shares differ by sectors, but, on average, Italy is not more vulnerable than Germany. These results are relevant for policy implications and for an ex-post analysis of the best response' to the Chinese competition.

type:Article, This article examines the validity of the “endogenous tariff model” in Korea. For many developed countries, accounting for a tariff in its endogenous notion has become increasingly important as special interest groups play pivotal roles in shaping trade policy. Yet, little evidence exists on the determinants of tariffs in Korea. Korea is an interesting case in that its protectivemeasures have been strategically designed and extensively implemented as a means tosuccessful economic development. With a full set of industry specific cross-sectional data, utilizing a simultaneous equation system, the study finds that: 1) a smaller number of establishments alleviates the free-rider problem, reducing transaction costs and thereby increasing the level of protection, 2) even though import competition intensifies in the short run, it does not necessarily lead to a higher level of protection.

The thesis consists of three empirical essays on the topics of self-employment, happiness and international trade. Essay 1 studies how immigrant self-employment entry is affected by the local business cycle in Sweden. Using the unemployment rate at the local labour market level as a proxy for the local business cycle, our study shows that the self-employment entry behaviour for native men and immigrant men is negatively affected by the unemployment rate, except for immigrants from Middle East. However, such a negative effect is quantitatively weaker among the non-European immigrants. Further, the result shows that immigrants from the Middle East are positively affected by the unemployment rate, meaning they are more likely to be pushed into self-employment in recessions. For women, we also find the unemployment rate has a negative impact on the self-employment decision of native women and immigrant women, except for the Middle East group. However, compared with men, the quantitative size of the unemployment rate effect on self-employment is smaller among women, implying the less important role of business cycle in determining females’ entry into self-employment. Essay 2 investigates the non-pecuniary return of self-employment in China. The results show that the life satisfaction of self-employed men is significantly higher than that of wage-employed men; the life satisfaction of self-employed women is not statistically significant different from that of wage-employed women. Moreover, we show that the life satisfaction of self-employed men in the informal sector is significantly higher than that of wage-employed men in the formal sector. The life satisfaction of wage-employed men in the informal sector is not significantly different from that of wage-employed men in the formal sector. For women, we find that there is no significant life satisfaction disparity between workers in the formal and informal sector. Finally, our job satisfaction data also concludes that sel

We present evidence that the negative effect of the China shock on US manufacturing employment is lower for industries that use services inputs more intensively. Different potential mechanisms for this finding are analyzed. This reveals significant heterogeneity across different types of services and their potential role in affecting labor demand and supply responses to greater import competition.

The rise of radical right parties is a Europe-wide phenomenon. While many studies describe the individual or regional characteristics associated with high propensity to vote for the far-right, we know little about the causal impact of economic shocks on electoral support for the far-right. Over the period 1995-2012, we examine the impact of trade-shocks, measured as exposure to low-wage country import competition, on the local vote share of the National Front, the French main far-right party, during presidential elections. We use small communities (cantons) as units of observations and include province (département) fixed effects, so that the identifying variation comes from within-province change in imports exposure over time. We find evidence of a small but significantly positive impact of import competition exposure on votes for the far-right: a one standard-deviation increase in imports-per-worker causes the change in the far-right share to increase by 7 percent of a standard deviation. Further results suggest that this effect has been increasing over the time period considered. We conduct a simple sensitivity test supporting the notion that (i) omitting local share of immigrants is likely to bias our estimate downward, and that (ii) this bias is likely to negligible.

We present evidence that the negative effect of the China shock on US manufacturing employment is lower for industries that use services inputs more intensively. Different potential mechanisms for this finding are analyzed. This reveals significant heterogeneity across different types of services and their potential role in affecting labor demand and supply responses to greater import competition.

We present evidence that the negative effect of the China shock on US manufacturing employment is lower for industries that use services inputs more intensively. Different potential mechanisms for this finding are analyzed. This reveals significant heterogeneity across different types of services and their potential role in affecting labor demand and supply responses to greater import competition.

The rise of radical right parties is a Europe-wide phenomenon. While many studies describe the individual or regional characteristics associated with high propensity to vote for the far-right, we know little about the causal impact of economic shocks on electoral support for the far-right. Over the period 1995-2012, we examine the impact of trade-shocks, measured as exposure to low-wage country import competition, on the local vote share of the National Front, the French main far-right party, during presidential elections. We use small communities (cantons) as units of observations and include province (département) fixed effects, so that the identifying variation comes from within-province change in imports exposure over time. We find evidence of a small but significantly positive impact of import competition exposure on votes for the far-right: a one standard-deviation increase in imports-per-worker causes the change in the far-right share to increase by 7 percent of a standard deviation. Further results suggest that this effect has been increasing over the time period considered. We conduct a simple sensitivity test supporting the notion that (i) omitting local share of immigrants is likely to bias our estimate downward, and that (ii) this bias is likely to negligible.

The thesis consists of three empirical essays on the topics of self-employment, happiness and international trade. Essay 1 studies how immigrant self-employment entry is affected by the local business cycle in Sweden. Using the unemployment rate at the local labour market level as a proxy for the local business cycle, our study shows that the self-employment entry behaviour for native men and immigrant men is negatively affected by the unemployment rate, except for immigrants from Middle East. However, such a negative effect is quantitatively weaker among the non-European immigrants. Further, the result shows that immigrants from the Middle East are positively affected by the unemployment rate, meaning they are more likely to be pushed into self-employment in recessions. For women, we also find the unemployment rate has a negative impact on the self-employment decision of native women and immigrant women, except for the Middle East group. However, compared with men, the quantitative size of the unemployment rate effect on self-employment is smaller among women, implying the less important role of business cycle in determining females’ entry into self-employment. Essay 2 investigates the non-pecuniary return of self-employment in China. The results show that the life satisfaction of self-employed men is significantly higher than that of wage-employed men; the life satisfaction of self-employed women is not statistically significant different from that of wage-employed women. Moreover, we show that the life satisfaction of self-employed men in the informal sector is significantly higher than that of wage-employed men in the formal sector. The life satisfaction of wage-employed men in the informal sector is not significantly different from that of wage-employed men in the formal sector. For women, we find that there is no significant life satisfaction disparity between workers in the formal and informal sector. Finally, our job satisfaction data also concludes that sel

The thesis consists of three empirical essays on the topics of self-employment, happiness and international trade. Essay 1 studies how immigrant self-employment entry is affected by the local business cycle in Sweden. Using the unemployment rate at the local labour market level as a proxy for the local business cycle, our study shows that the self-employment entry behaviour for native men and immigrant men is negatively affected by the unemployment rate, except for immigrants from Middle East. However, such a negative effect is quantitatively weaker among the non-European immigrants. Further, the result shows that immigrants from the Middle East are positively affected by the unemployment rate, meaning they are more likely to be pushed into self-employment in recessions. For women, we also find the unemployment rate has a negative impact on the self-employment decision of native women and immigrant women, except for the Middle East group. However, compared with men, the quantitative size of the unemployment rate effect on self-employment is smaller among women, implying the less important role of business cycle in determining females’ entry into self-employment. Essay 2 investigates the non-pecuniary return of self-employment in China. The results show that the life satisfaction of self-employed men is significantly higher than that of wage-employed men; the life satisfaction of self-employed women is not statistically significant different from that of wage-employed women. Moreover, we show that the life satisfaction of self-employed men in the informal sector is significantly higher than that of wage-employed men in the formal sector. The life satisfaction of wage-employed men in the informal sector is not significantly different from that of wage-employed men in the formal sector. For women, we find that there is no significant life satisfaction disparity between workers in the formal and informal sector. Finally, our job satisfaction data also concludes that sel

The thesis consists of three empirical essays on the topics of self-employment, happiness and international trade. Essay 1 studies how immigrant self-employment entry is affected by the local business cycle in Sweden. Using the unemployment rate at the local labour market level as a proxy for the local business cycle, our study shows that the self-employment entry behaviour for native men and immigrant men is negatively affected by the unemployment rate, except for immigrants from Middle East. However, such a negative effect is quantitatively weaker among the non-European immigrants. Further, the result shows that immigrants from the Middle East are positively affected by the unemployment rate, meaning they are more likely to be pushed into self-employment in recessions. For women, we also find the unemployment rate has a negative impact on the self-employment decision of native women and immigrant women, except for the Middle East group. However, compared with men, the quantitative size of the unemployment rate effect on self-employment is smaller among women, implying the less important role of business cycle in determining females’ entry into self-employment. Essay 2 investigates the non-pecuniary return of self-employment in China. The results show that the life satisfaction of self-employed men is significantly higher than that of wage-employed men; the life satisfaction of self-employed women is not statistically significant different from that of wage-employed women. Moreover, we show that the life satisfaction of self-employed men in the informal sector is significantly higher than that of wage-employed men in the formal sector. The life satisfaction of wage-employed men in the informal sector is not significantly different from that of wage-employed men in the formal sector. For women, we find that there is no significant life satisfaction disparity between workers in the formal and informal sector. Finally, our job satisfaction data also concludes that sel

The thesis consists of three empirical essays on the topics of self-employment, happiness and international trade. Essay 1 studies how immigrant self-employment entry is affected by the local business cycle in Sweden. Using the unemployment rate at the local labour market level as a proxy for the local business cycle, our study shows that the self-employment entry behaviour for native men and immigrant men is negatively affected by the unemployment rate, except for immigrants from Middle East. However, such a negative effect is quantitatively weaker among the non-European immigrants. Further, the result shows that immigrants from the Middle East are positively affected by the unemployment rate, meaning they are more likely to be pushed into self-employment in recessions. For women, we also find the unemployment rate has a negative impact on the self-employment decision of native women and immigrant women, except for the Middle East group. However, compared with men, the quantitative size of the unemployment rate effect on self-employment is smaller among women, implying the less important role of business cycle in determining females’ entry into self-employment. Essay 2 investigates the non-pecuniary return of self-employment in China. The results show that the life satisfaction of self-employed men is significantly higher than that of wage-employed men; the life satisfaction of self-employed women is not statistically significant different from that of wage-employed women. Moreover, we show that the life satisfaction of self-employed men in the informal sector is significantly higher than that of wage-employed men in the formal sector. The life satisfaction of wage-employed men in the informal sector is not significantly different from that of wage-employed men in the formal sector. For women, we find that there is no significant life satisfaction disparity between workers in the formal and informal sector. Finally, our job satisfaction data also concludes that sel

This paper analyzes the impact of Chinese competition on developed countries' export prices. The empirical application is on Italy, one of the main European manufacturing exporters with exports at high risk of competition from China. Our results show that, following China's entry into the WTO, the price strategies of Italian firms has been affected. While in general the increasing Chinese export competition resulted in an upgrading of products exported, the impact has been different according to the sector and technological level. The incentives to upgrade have been stronger for low technology sectors, where competition is tougher and varieties of products sold lower. To highlight quality differentials, and isolate the effects on the different segments of the distribution of Italy's export prices, we run quantile regressions. We find that are mainly those products sold at low prices to face a strong pressure to upgrade.

This paper analyzes the impact of Chinese competition on developed countries' export prices. The empirical application is on Italy, one of the main European manufacturing exporters with exports at high risk of competition from China. Our results show that, following China's entry into the WTO, the price strategies of Italian firms has been affected. While in general the increasing Chinese export competition resulted in an upgrading of products exported, the impact has been different according to the sector and technological level. The incentives to upgrade have been stronger for low technology sectors, where competition is tougher and varieties of products sold lower. To highlight quality differentials, and isolate the effects on the different segments of the distribution of Italy's export prices, we run quantile regressions. We find that are mainly those products sold at low prices to face a strong pressure to upgrade.

This paper studies the changes in labor allocation across firms and industries in response to changes in technology (captured by the adoption of information and communication technologies, ICT) and import competition, due to increased exposure to trade competition from China. We use detailed matched worker-firm data from the Swedish manufacturing sector. We provide new evidence on the mobility of heterogeneous workers across firms and document increased assortative matching of workers in ICT intensive industries. However, the sorting patterns are not uniform across industries within this group. The adoption of ICT along with stronger Chinese import competition results in a significant skill upgrade within high-wage firms. In contrast, in the absence of strong pressures in import competition, sorting occurs at the low end of the worker-firm distribution, i.e. low-skill workers allocate to low-wage firms. Industries with low ICT intensity do not exhibit any of these sorting patterns. We rationalize our empirical findings through a labor market matching model which is able to explain the increased assortative matching in ICT intensive industries through an increase in the relative demand for qualified workers.

Essay 1: We propose a model of cross-border acquisitions in which multinational enterprises (MNEs) and private equity-firms (PE) compete over domestic assets. MNEs' advantage lies in firm-specific synergies, whereas PE-firms are good at restructuring. Prevailing interest rates do not work in favor of PE-firms, but a lower risk premium and better financial market development do. Stronger firm-specific synergies favor MNEs. Performing a welfare analysis, we show that a policy of restricting PE-firms can be counterproductive. Essay 2: To understand how share of cross-border leveraged buyouts (LBOs) in all cross-border Mergers and Acquisitions (M&As) varies across countries and time, I use a model of cross-border M&As similar to Norbäck and Persson (2009) and Norbäck et al. (2013) where the share of LBOs are negatively related to transaction costs, international market integration, and property rights. I find evidence for these predictions in a comprehensive dataset covering all majority-owned cross-border M&As in the world. Essay 3: This paper studies the effect of increased competition from low wage countries on the earnings gap between skilled and unskilled workers using Swedish matched worker-firm micro data. Treating Chinese accession into WTO as an exogenous shock, the paper shows that higher Chinese import penetration increases earnings for high-skilled workers, and creates a significantly larger skill premium, contributing to the increase in wage inequality. One percentage points increase in Chinese import penetration results in about 1 percent higher wages for skilled workers, and the rise in Chinese imports explains about 10 percent of the overall rise in skilled wages. Essay 4: This paper studies the changes in labor allocations across firms and industries in response to recent changes in information and communication technologies (ICT) adoption and increase in Chinese import penetration using a detailed matched worker-firm micro data from Swedis

This paper studies the changes in labor allocation across firms and industries in response to changes in technology (captured by the adoption of information and communication technologies, ICT) and import competition, due to increased exposure to trade competition from China. We use detailed matched worker-firm data from the Swedish manufacturing sector. We provide new evidence on the mobility of heterogeneous workers across firms and document increased assortative matching of workers in ICT intensive industries. However, the sorting patterns are not uniform across industries within this group. The adoption of ICT along with stronger Chinese import competition results in a significant skill upgrade within high-wage firms. In contrast, in the absence of strong pressures in import competition, sorting occurs at the low end of the worker-firm distribution, i.e. low-skill workers allocate to low-wage firms. Industries with low ICT intensity do not exhibit any of these sorting patterns. We rationalize our empirical findings through a labor market matching model which is able to explain the increased assortative matching in ICT intensive industries through an increase in the relative demand for qualified workers.

This paper studies the changes in labor allocation across firms and industries in response to changes in technology (captured by the adoption of information and communication technologies, ICT) and import competition, due to increased exposure to trade competition from China. We use detailed matched worker-firm data from the Swedish manufacturing sector. We provide new evidence on the mobility of heterogeneous workers across firms and document increased assortative matching of workers in ICT intensive industries. However, the sorting patterns are not uniform across industries within this group. The adoption of ICT along with stronger Chinese import competition results in a significant skill upgrade within high-wage firms. In contrast, in the absence of strong pressures in import competition, sorting occurs at the low end of the worker-firm distribution, i.e. low-skill workers allocate to low-wage firms. Industries with low ICT intensity do not exhibit any of these sorting patterns. We rationalize our empirical findings through a labor market matching model which is able to explain the increased assortative matching in ICT intensive industries through an increase in the relative demand for qualified workers.

This paper studies the changes in labor allocation across firms and industries in response to changes in technology (captured by the adoption of information and communication technologies, ICT) and import competition, due to increased exposure to trade competition from China. We use detailed matched worker-firm data from the Swedish manufacturing sector. We provide new evidence on the mobility of heterogeneous workers across firms and document increased assortative matching of workers in ICT intensive industries. However, the sorting patterns are not uniform across industries within this group. The adoption of ICT along with stronger Chinese import competition results in a significant skill upgrade within high-wage firms. In contrast, in the absence of strong pressures in import competition, sorting occurs at the low end of the worker-firm distribution, i.e. low-skill workers allocate to low-wage firms. Industries with low ICT intensity do not exhibit any of these sorting patterns. We rationalize our empirical findings through a labor market matching model which is able to explain the increased assortative matching in ICT intensive industries through an increase in the relative demand for qualified workers.

This paper studies the changes in labor allocation across firms and industries in response to changes in technology (captured by the adoption of information and communication technologies, ICT) and import competition, due to increased exposure to trade competition from China. We use detailed matched worker-firm data from the Swedish manufacturing sector. We provide new evidence on the mobility of heterogeneous workers across firms and document increased assortative matching of workers in ICT intensive industries. However, the sorting patterns are not uniform across industries within this group. The adoption of ICT along with stronger Chinese import competition results in a significant skill upgrade within high-wage firms. In contrast, in the absence of strong pressures in import competition, sorting occurs at the low end of the worker-firm distribution, i.e. low-skill workers allocate to low-wage firms. Industries with low ICT intensity do not exhibit any of these sorting patterns. We rationalize our empirical findings through a labor market matching model which is able to explain the increased assortative matching in ICT intensive industries through an increase in the relative demand for qualified workers.

Essay 1: We propose a model of cross-border acquisitions in which multinational enterprises (MNEs) and private equity-firms (PE) compete over domestic assets. MNEs' advantage lies in firm-specific synergies, whereas PE-firms are good at restructuring. Prevailing interest rates do not work in favor of PE-firms, but a lower risk premium and better financial market development do. Stronger firm-specific synergies favor MNEs. Performing a welfare analysis, we show that a policy of restricting PE-firms can be counterproductive. Essay 2: To understand how share of cross-border leveraged buyouts (LBOs) in all cross-border Mergers and Acquisitions (M&As) varies across countries and time, I use a model of cross-border M&As similar to Norbäck and Persson (2009) and Norbäck et al. (2013) where the share of LBOs are negatively related to transaction costs, international market integration, and property rights. I find evidence for these predictions in a comprehensive dataset covering all majority-owned cross-border M&As in the world. Essay 3: This paper studies the effect of increased competition from low wage countries on the earnings gap between skilled and unskilled workers using Swedish matched worker-firm micro data. Treating Chinese accession into WTO as an exogenous shock, the paper shows that higher Chinese import penetration increases earnings for high-skilled workers, and creates a significantly larger skill premium, contributing to the increase in wage inequality. One percentage points increase in Chinese import penetration results in about 1 percent higher wages for skilled workers, and the rise in Chinese imports explains about 10 percent of the overall rise in skilled wages. Essay 4: This paper studies the changes in labor allocations across firms and industries in response to recent changes in information and communication technologies (ICT) adoption and increase in Chinese import penetration using a detailed matched worker-firm micro data from Swedis

We apply a simple method to study the relative quality of Chinese versus European products exported in the clothing sector after the end of the Multi-Fiber Arrangement. Based on the model of Foster et al., (2008), we interpret the change in relative export prices and quantities sold in narrowly defined product categories as an indicator of quality shifts. Using UN Comtrade data, we find that European varieties exported to the US typically sell for a higher price than identical Chinese varieties exported to the US, but this price gap is narrowing. Despite rising prices, Chinese varieties are gaining market share. This opposite movement of relative prices and quantities sold in the same destination market are a strong indication of China’s moving up the quality ladder in its clothing exports relative to the EU. While European core products in clothing are stable over time, Chinese exports show product dynamics with exit and entry of new core products every year.

We apply a simple method to study the relative quality of Chinese versus European products exported in the clothing sector after the end of the Multi-Fiber Arrangement. Based on the model of Foster et al (2008), we interpret the relative change of export prices and quantities sold in narrowly defined product categories as an indicator of quality shifts. Using UN Comtrade data we find that European varieties exported to the US typically sell for a higher price than identical Chinese varieties exported to the US, but this price gap is narrowing. Despite rising prices, Chinese varieties are gaining market share. This opposite movement of relative prices and quantities sold in the same destination market, are a strong indication of China moving up the quality ladder in its clothing exports relative to the EU. While European “core” products in clothing are stable over time, Chinese exports show strong product dynamics with exit and entry of new “core” products every year and “core” products changing rapidly. Both China and the EU export in every product category, resulting in an almost perfect product overlap with almost no products being exported by only one of the two.