Linking Export Activities to Productivity and Wage Rate Growth

This paper examines the relationship between trade and job quality, using productivity and wage rate data for export and non-export activities in a sample of 60 countries across all income levels and 45 sectors spanning the whole economy over 1995-2019. First, the analysis finds that workers involve...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Aguilar Luna, Luis
Other Authors: Winkler, Deborah
Format: eBook
Language:English
Published: Washington, D.C The World Bank 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:
Collection: World Bank E-Library Archive - Collection details see MPG.ReNa
LEADER 02449nmm a2200313 u 4500
001 EB002223147
003 EBX01000000000000001360107
005 00000000000000.0
007 cr|||||||||||||||||||||
008 240812 ||| eng
100 1 |a Aguilar Luna, Luis 
245 0 0 |a Linking Export Activities to Productivity and Wage Rate Growth  |h Elektronische Ressource  |c Luis Aguilar Luna 
260 |a Washington, D.C  |b The World Bank  |c 2024 
300 |a 41 pages 
653 |a Macroeconomics and Economic Growth 
653 |a International Trade and Trade Rules 
653 |a International Trade 
653 |a Export Activity 
653 |a Labor Productivity 
653 |a Economic Development 
653 |a International Economics and Trade 
653 |a Wage Rate 
700 1 |a Winkler, Deborah 
041 0 7 |a eng  |2 ISO 639-2 
989 |b WOBA  |a World Bank E-Library Archive 
028 5 0 |a 10.1596/1813-9450-10737 
856 4 0 |u http://elibrary.worldbank.org/doi/book/10.1596/1813-9450-10737  |x Verlag  |3 Volltext 
082 0 |a 330 
520 |a This paper examines the relationship between trade and job quality, using productivity and wage rate data for export and non-export activities in a sample of 60 countries across all income levels and 45 sectors spanning the whole economy over 1995-2019. First, the analysis finds that workers involved in export activities are more productive and better paid than those in non-export activities. While the productivity premium for export activities is confirmed in low- and middle-income countries, there is no wage rate premium. Second, this study finds a positive relationship between exports and labor productivity at the country-sector level, which can be attributed to productivity gains within export activities as well as spillovers to non-export activities. Countries' specialization in global value chains and sectors also matters for the relationship between exports and job quality, with manufacturing, agriculture, and business services showing stronger associations. The link between exports and the wage rate is smaller than for productivity. Finally, productivity and wage rate growth decompositions suggest that growth within rather than between activities was the driving force. Within export activities, productivity and wage increases were dominated by within-sector growth, although labor movement toward more productive sectors also matters in low- and middle-income countries