Trade liberalization, wage rigidity, and labor market dynamics with heterogeneous firms

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Gurkova, Ekaterina; Helpman, Elhanan; Itskhoki, Oleg
• 署名单位: Harvard University; University of California System; University of California Los Angeles
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-1996
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jinteco.2026.104260
• 发表日期: 2026
• 关键词: INTERNATIONAL-TRADE; INEQUALITY; search; CHINA

摘要

Trade liberalization triggers substantial within-sector labor reallocation, a pattern captured by heterogeneous-firm trade models. We study transition dynamics of firms and workers response to changes in trade costs, incorporating labor market frictions. Responses vary by productivity: high-productivity exporters expand employment, while lower-productivity firms exit, downsize before exit, or gradually shrink. As a result, jobs with similar initial wages differ ex post, with high-productivity firms offering higher wages and greater stability. Calibrating the model, we quantify adjustment channels and show that gains from lower consumer prices outweigh losses from wage cuts, job destruction, and capital losses, although these losses concentrated among a subset of workers. Downward wage rigidity can improve welfare, creating a trade-off between worker displacement and income loss.