Trade protection and industry wage structure in Poland
By: Chor-ching Goh, Beata Smarzynska Javorcik.
Contributors: Javorcik, Beata K. Smarzynska.; National Bureau of Economic Research.
Series: NBER working paper series ;; working paper 11143; Working paper series (National Bureau of Economic Research : Online) ;; working paper no. 11143.
Publisher: National Bureau of Economic Research
Published: 2005
Place of publication: Cambridge, MA
Language: eng
Format: Electronic resource
Subjects: Protectionism -- Poland.; Free trade -- Poland.; Wages -- Manufacturing industries -- Poland.
Description: "This study examines the impact of Poland's trade liberalization 1994-2001 on the industry wage structure.  The liberalization was undertaken in preparation for Poland's accession to the European Union and was more pronounced in industries with larger shares of unskilled labor.  Our analysis indicates that a decrease in an industry tariff was associated with higher wages being earned by workers employed in the industry, controlling for worker characteristics and geographic variables.  The result is robust to including year and industry fixed effects, controlling for industry-level exports, imports, concentration, stock of foreign direct investment and capital accumulation.  The finding is consistent with liberalization increasing competitive pressures, forcing firms to restructure and improve their productivity, which in turn translates into higher profits being shared with workers.  It could also be potentially attributed to trade liberalization lowering the costs of imported inputs which enhances firm profitability.  The result holds when skilled workers are excluded from the sample, thus suggesting that reductions in trade barriers benefited the unskilled in terms of an increase in wages"--National Bureau of Economic Research web site.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.
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