 Selection effects, inequality, and aggregate gains from tradeJournal of International Economics, 2023, vol. 142, issue C Abstract: This paper argues that the cost of trade-induced inequality in terms of aggregate gains from trade is decreasing with globalization. I use a general equilibrium model of trade and show that at low levels of trade openness, a 1% point increase in real per capita income due to higher trade is associated with percentage point increases of 0.5, 0.85, and 0.92 in the Gini, Atkinson and Theil indices, respectively. These trade-offs, however, quickly decline upon opening up to trade and converge toward zero as trade barriers disappear. I find that at high levels of openness, more firms are exporters such that the elasticity of income inequality to reductions in trade costs converges to a constant, whereas the elasticity of average real income keeps increasing. Trade liberalization has positive marginal welfare effects for a wide range of social welfare function parameters. Existing taxation and redistributive policies can reinforce this relationship. Keywords: Inequality; Globalization; Gains from trade; Taxation; Redistribution (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:inecon:v:142:y:2023:i:c:s0022199623000387 DOI: 10.1016/j.jinteco.2023.103752 Access Statistics for this article Journal of International Economics is currently edited by Gourinchas, Pierre-Olivier and RodrÃguez-Clare, Andrés More articles in Journal of International Economics from Elsevier |
Is your work missing from RePEc? Here is how to contribute.
Questions or problems? Check the EconPapers FAQ or send mail to .
EconPapers is hosted by the
School of Business at Örebro University.