Online Exports and the Wage Gap

41 Pages Posted: 19 Jun 2017

See all articles by Marcio Cruz

Marcio Cruz

World Bank; Federal University of Parana (UFPR) - Departamento de Economia

Emmanuel Milet

Paris School of Economics (PSE)(Paris1)

Marcelo Olarreaga

University of Geneva; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: June 2017

Abstract

The development of the internet is often seen as a source of demand for skilled workers and therefore a potential driver of the wage gap between skilled and unskilled workers. In this paper we focus on the impact that international trade in online platforms has on the wage gap. Because online trade allows smaller firms with relatively more unskilled workers to access world markets we can a priori expect that an expansion of online exports reduces the wage gap. After correcting for potential endogeneity bias in a sample of twenty three developing countries for which we can match online trade and wage gap data, we find that a 1 percent increase in the share of online exports over GDP leads to a 0.01 percent decline in the wage gap.

Keywords: online trade, wage gap

JEL Classification: F14, J31, L86

Suggested Citation

Cruz, Marcio and Milet, Emmanuel and Olarreaga, Marcelo, Online Exports and the Wage Gap (June 2017). CEPR Discussion Paper No. DP12092, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2988850

Marcio Cruz (Contact Author)

World Bank ( email )

1818 H Street, NW
Washington, DC 20433
United States

Federal University of Parana (UFPR) - Departamento de Economia ( email )

Av. Pref. Lothario Meissner, 632
Centro
Curitiba - PR, 80060-000
Brazil

Emmanuel Milet

Paris School of Economics (PSE)(Paris1) ( email )

48 Boulevard Jourdan
Paris, 75014 75014
France

Marcelo Olarreaga

University of Geneva ( email )

40 Boulevard du Pont-d'Arve
Genève, CH - 1205
Switzerland

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) ( email )

London
United Kingdom

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
0
Abstract Views
487
PlumX Metrics