Relative Wage Variation and Industry Location

29 Pages Posted: 11 Feb 2004

See all articles by Andrew B. Bernard

Andrew B. Bernard

Dartmouth College - Tuck School of Business; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Stephen J. Redding

Princeton University

Peter K. Schott

Yale University - School of Management; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Yale University - Cowles Foundation

Helen Simpson

CMPO; Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS)

Multiple version iconThere are 3 versions of this paper

Date Written: January 2004

Abstract

Relative wages vary considerably across regions of the United Kingdom, with skill-abundant regions exhibiting lower skill premia than skill-scarce regions. This Paper shows that the location of economic activity is correlated with the variation in relative wages. UK regions with low skill premia produce different sets of manufacturing industries than regions with high skill premia. Relative wages are also linked to subsequent economic development: over time, increases in the employment share of skill-intensive industries are greater in regions with lower initial skill premia. Both results suggest firms adjust production across and within regions in response to relative wage differences.

Keywords: De-industrialization, relative factor prices, diversification cones

JEL Classification: C14, F11, F14

Suggested Citation

Bernard, Andrew B. and Redding, Stephen J. and Schott, Peter K. and Simpson, Helen, Relative Wage Variation and Industry Location (January 2004). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=502126

Andrew B. Bernard

Dartmouth College - Tuck School of Business ( email )

100 Tuck Hall
Hanover, NH 03755
United States
603-646-0302 (Phone)
603-646-9084 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://mba.tuck.dartmouth.edu/pages/faculty/Andrew.Bernard/

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) ( email )

London
United Kingdom

Stephen J. Redding (Contact Author)

Princeton University ( email )

Princeton, NJ 08544-1021
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.princeton.edu/~reddings/

Peter K. Schott

Yale University - School of Management ( email )

135 Prospect Street
P.O. Box 208200
New Haven, CT 06520-8200
United States
203-436-4260 (Phone)
203-436-6974 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.som.yale.edu/faculty/pks4

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Yale University - Cowles Foundation

Box 208281
New Haven, CT 06520-8281
United States

Helen Simpson

CMPO ( email )

University of Bristol
2 Priory Road
Bristol, BS8 ITX
United Kingdom

Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) ( email )

7 Ridgmount Street
London, WC1E 7AE
United Kingdom
+44 20 7291 4800 (Phone)
+44 20 7323 4780 (Fax)

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