Trade and human capital accumulation: evidence from U.S. immigrants

Dorte Domeland

No 4144, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: This study provides empirical evidence that trade increases on-the-job human capital accumulation by estimating the effect of home country openness on estimated returns to home country experience of U.S. immigrants. The positive effect of trade on on-the-job human capital accumulation remains significant when controlling for GDP, educational attainment, and institutional quality. It is not the result of self-selection, heterogeneity in returns to experience, English-speaking origin, or cultural background. The effect persists when restricting the sample to non-OECD countries, thereby resolving the theoretical ambiguity of whether trade increases or decreases learning-by-doing. The role of trade in generating economic growth is therefore likely to be more important than generally considered.

Keywords: Economic Theory&Research; Country Strategy&Performance; Labor Markets; Population Policies; Inequality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2007-03-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev, nep-edu, nep-hrm and nep-int
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4144

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