Publication

In this working paper the impact of trade on wages and employment in the Philippines' manufacturing sector is examined. According to the authors wage inequality has declined over the period in which trade liberalization was pursued, which stands in contrast to previous research on Latin American countries. Tariff reductions are found to have had an insignificant effect on both employment and average work hours across various industries. The authors argue that these findings are consistent with liberalization working to erode rents earned by more skilled workers in capital-intensive industries.