Abstract
China has experienced rising wage inequality due to rising relative demand for skilled labour. In this paper, we use a sample of 1,500 firms to investigate the impact of trade and technology on China's rising skill demand. We find that export expansion had a negative direct effect (Heckscher–Ohlin type) and a positive indirect effect (export-induced skill-biased technical change) on skill demand; the net effect was found positive and accounted for 5 percent of rising skill demand of the sample firms. We find that technical change in Chinese firms was on average skill-neutral, but majority foreign-owned firms experienced skill-biased technical progress that accounted for 22 percent of the rising skill demand of the sample firms.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 59-84 |
| Journal | Economics of Transition |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2008 |
Indexed by
- ABDC-A
- Scopus
- SSCI
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Xu, B., & Li, W. (2008). Trade, technology, and China's rising skill demand. Economics of Transition, 16(1), 59-84. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0351.2007.00314.x