Labor unions, globalization, and mercantilism
Grieben, Wolf-Heimo ; Zulehner, Christine ; Sener, Huat
CESifo - Munich
2009
40 p.
collective bargaining ; globalization ; North South ; trade liberalization ; trade union ; welfare economics
CESifo working paper
2889
Economic development
English
Bibliogr.
"We analyze the growth and welfare effects of globalization in a dynamic Schumpeterian North-South product-cycle model. Economic growth is driven by R&D activities of Northern entrepreneurs. Top Northern production technologies are imitated by the South. In the North, there is wage bargaining between a labor union and firms, and a minimum wage rate exists. Unilateral Northern trade liberalization reduces the rate of innovation, increases Northern unemployment, and reduces both Northern and Southern per-capita welfare. The effects are reversed in the case of unilateral Southern trade liberalization. Hence, wage bargaining above a given minimum wage promotes mercantilist behavior of developed countries."
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