Low-wage country competition and the quality content of high-wage country exports

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Martin, Julien; Mejean, Isabelle
• 署名单位: University of Quebec; University of Quebec Montreal; Institut Polytechnique de Paris; Ecole Polytechnique
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-1996
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jinteco.2014.02.002
• 发表日期: 2014
• 页码: 140-152
• 关键词: Firm-level data; Quality differentiation; Low-wage country competition; Within-industry specialization

摘要

We study how competition from low-wage countries in international markets affects the quality content of high-wage country exports. We focus on aggregate quality changes driven by a reallocation of sales from low- to high-quality exporters, within industries. Two alternative indicators are used on firm-level data to measure quality changes. Both lead to similar conclusions. Namely, we show that the mean quality of French exports increased by 10-15% between 1995 and 2005. Quality improvement is significantly more pronounced in markets in which competition from low-wage countries has increased the most. This holds true for various specifications including two different identification strategies. The results are consistent with competition from low-wage countries leading developed countries to specialize within industries in the production of higher quality goods. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.