We study, both theoretically and empirically, how trade imbalances affect the structure of countries' exports and wage inequality. We show that, in a Heckscher-Ohlin model with a continuum of goods, a Southern (Northern) trade surplus leads to an increase (reduction) in the average skill...

Product quality plays a key role in economics, but differs markedly across countries and industries. What are the determinants and implications of this pattern? In this paper, we test an explanation for the large heterogeneity in product quality that rests on the interplay between cross-country...

This paper empirically studies the effects of service offshoring on white-collar employment, using data for more than 100 US occupations over the period 1997--2006. A model of firm behaviour based on separability allows derivation of the labour demand elasticity with respect to service...

This paper studies the effect of imported inputs on the relative demand for high-skill labor. To this purpose, it applies propensity score matching techniques to firm-level data for 27 transition countries. The results show that importing inputs induces skill upgrading. Specifically, it explains...

We study the relationship between new imported inputs and the introduction of new domestic products. To this purpose, we assemble a novel data set covering 25 European countries over 1995–2007 and containing information on domestic production and bilateral trade for the universe of goods. We...

We argue that the large and growing North-South trade imbalances arisen over the last three decades may have exacerbated wage inequality worldwide. In particular, we show that in a standard Heckscher-Ohlin setup with a continuum of goods, a Southern trade surplus is associated with higher skill...