Export Activity and Wage Dispersion : The Case of Swiss Firms

In this paper we use a large and detailed database to analyse the impact of export activity on wage dispersion in Swiss firms. First, earnings functions are estimated which take into account both observed and unobserved characteristics of individuals and firms. Then, an original decomposition is proposed which identifies the exact impact of each individual and firm characteristic on the wage dispersion observed, both within and between exporting and non-exporting firms. Our results suggest that the impact of export activity on wage dispersion is mainly a human capital story but also show significant differences between exporting and non-exporting firms with respect to firm characteristics and their marginal effects on wages