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Trade Liberalisation And Human Capital Adjustment, Rodney E. Falvey, David Greenaway, Joana Silva

Rodney Falvey

This paper highlights the way in which workers of different age and ability are affected by anticipated and unanticipated trade liberalisations. A two-factor (skilled and unskilled labour), two-sector Heckscher-Ohlin trade model is supplemented with a education sector which uses skilled labour and time to convert unskilled workers into skilled workers. A skilled worker's income depends on her ability, but all unskilled workers have the same income. Trade liberalisation in a relatively skilled labour abundant country increases the relative skilled wage and induces skill upgrading by the existing workforce. The younger and more able unskilled workers are most likely to upgrade. …