Survival of the best fit: exposure to low-wage countries and the (uneven) growth of US manufacturing plants

Andrew Bernard, J. Jensen () and Peter Schott

No W03/12, IFS Working Papers from Institute for Fiscal Studies

Abstract: 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.

Keywords: Low-Wage Country Import Competition; Heckscher-Ohlin; Manufacturing Plant (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F11 F14 L25 L60 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 38 pp
Date: 2003-06-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ent and nep-lab
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (16)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Survival of the best fit: Exposure to low-wage countries and the (uneven) growth of U.S. manufacturing plants (2006)
Working Paper: Survival of the Best Fit: Exposure to Low-Wage Countries and the (Uneven) Growth of U.S. Manufacturing Plants (2005)
Working Paper: Survival of the Best Fit: Exposure to Low-Wage Countries and the (Uneven) Growth of U.S. Manufacturing Plants (2003)
Working Paper: Survival of the best fit: exposure to low-wage countries and the (uneven) growth of U.S. manufacturing plants (2003)
Working Paper: Survival of the Best Fit: Exposure to Low-Wage Countries and the (Uneven) Growth of US Manufacturing Plants (2003)
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