International Capital Movements and Relative Wages: Evidence from U.S. Manufacturing Industries

In this paper, we use a multi-sector specific factors model with international capital mobility to examine the effects of globalization on the skill premium in U.S. manufacturing industries. This model allows us to identify two channels through which globalization affects relative wages: effects of international capital flows transmitted through changes in interest rates, and effects of international trade in goods and services transmitted through changes in product prices. In addition, we identify two domestic forces which affect relative wages: variations in labor endowment and technological change. Our results reveal that changes in labor endowments had a negative effect on the skill premium, while the effect of technological progress was mixed. The main factors behind the rise in the skill premium were product price changes (for the full sample period) and international capital flows (during 1982-05).