Do labor standards affect comparative advantage in developing countries?

被引：55

作者：

Busse, M ^{[1
]}

机构：

[1] Hamburg Inst Int Econ, Hamburg, Germany

来源：

WORLD DEVELOPMENT | 2002年 / 30卷 / 11期

关键词：

comparative advantage; labor standards; developing countries; crosscountry regression framework;

D O I：

10.1016/S0305-750X(02)00117-1

中图分类号：

F0 [经济学]; F1 [世界各国经济概况、经济史、经济地理]; C [社会科学总论];

学科分类号：

0201 ; 020105 ; 03 ; 0303 ;

摘要：

This paper focuses on the question of whether labor standards can affect comparative advantage in unskilled-labor-intensive goods in developing countries, and thereby influence trade flows. Using a Heckscher-Ohlin framework, the effects of low labor standards depend on the type of standard: Forced and child labor lead to an increase in the endowment of unskilled labor, and hence improve comparative advantage in unskilled-labor-intensive goods; the opposite occurs with discrimination against females; and with basic trade union rights, the outcome is ambiguous. The empirical results confirm the theoretical outcome,, but also show that weaker, union rights are associated with a stronger comparative advantage. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

引用

页码：1921 / 1932

页数：12