Exports, Export Destinations, and Skills
Irene Brambilla, Daniel Lederman, Guido Porto
American Economic Review · 2012 · Volume 102 · Issue 7
Abstract
This paper explores the links between exports, export destinations, and skill utilization. We identify two mechanisms behind these links: differences across destinations in quality valuation and in exporting required services, activities that are intensive in skilled labor. Depending on the characteristics of the source country (income, language), the theories suggest a skill-bias in export destinations. We test the theory using a panel of Argentine manufacturing firms. We find that Argentine firms exporting to high-income countries hired more skilled workers than other exporters and domestic firms. Instead, we cannot identify any causal effect of exporting per se on skill utilization. (JEL F14, F16, J24, L60, O14, O19)
Keywords
Empirical Studies of Trade, Trade and Labor Market Interactions, Human Capital, Skills, Occupational Choice, Labor Productivity, Industry Studies: Manufacturing: General, Industrialization, Manufacturing and Service Industries, Choice of Technology, International Linkages to Development, Role of International Organizations
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