Skill Dispersion and Trade Flows

Is skill dispersion a source of comparative advantage? While it is established that a country's aggregate endowment of human capital is an important determinant of comparative advantage, this paper investigates whether the distribution of skills in the labor force can play a role in the determination of trade flows. We develop a multi-country, multi-sector model of trade in which comparative advantage derives from (i) differences across sectors in the complementarity of workers' skills, (ii) the dispersion of skills in the working population. First, we show how higher dispersion in human capital can trigger specialization in sectors characterized by higher substitutability among workers' skills. We then use industry-level bilateral trade data to show that human capital dispersion, as measured by a standard international metric, has a signi…cant effect on trade flows. We …nd that the effect is of a magnitude comparable to that of aggregate endowments. The result is robust to the introduction of several controls for other proximate causes of comparative advantage

Skill Dispersion and Trade Flows

Is skill dispersion a source of comparative advantage? While it is established that a country's aggregate endowment of human capital is an important determinant of comparative advantage, this paper investigates whether the distribution of skills in the labor force can play a role in the determination of trade flows. We develop a multi-country, multi-sector model of trade in which comparative advantage derives from (i) differences across sectors in the complementarity of workers' skills, (ii) the dispersion of skills in the working population. First, we show how higher dispersion in human capital can trigger specialization in sectors characterized by higher substitutability among workers' skills. We then use industry-level bilateral trade data to show that human capital dispersion, as measured by a standard international metric, has a significant effect on trade flows. We find that the effect is of a magnitude comparable to that of aggregate endowments. The result is robust to the introduction of several controls for other proximate causes of comparative advantage.

Environmental management and innovation activities in developing countries: A case study of Argentine manufacturing firms

Fil: Chudnovsky, Daniel. Universidad de San Andrés. Escuela de Administración y Negocios; Argentina.Fil: Pupato, Germán. Universidad de San Andrés. Escuela de Administración y Negocios; Argentina.Based on micro data for 716 manufacturing firms from the Second Innovation and Technological Behavior Survey for 1998-2001, in our econometric analysis we find that firm size and technology acquisition expenditures increase both the probability of undertaking environmental management activities (EMA) and the quality of environmental management. In addition, we find a positive impact of environmental regulatory pressures on innovative behavior. Despite the fact that foreign ownership is assoc iated to a decrease in the quality of environmental management, foreign firms are more prone to undertake EMA and generate positive environmental spillovers, by inducing simple clean production management in domestic firms with high absorption capabilities

Innovation and productivity: A study of Argentine manufacturing firms' behavior

Fil: Chudnovsky, Daniel. Universidad de San Andrés. Escuela de Administración y Negocios; Argentina.Fil: López, Andrés. Universidad de San Andrés. Escuela de Administración y Negocios; Argentina.Fil: Pupato, Germán. Universidad de San Andrés. Escuela de Administración y Negocios; Argentina

Las recientes crisis sistémicas en países emergentes: las peculiaridades del caso argentino

Fil: Chudnovsky, Daniel. Universidad de San Andrés. Departamento de Economía; Argentina.Fil: López, Andrés. Universidad de San Andrés. Departamento de Economía; Argentina.Fil: Pupato, Germán. Universidad de San Andrés. Departamento de Economía; Argentina