Working Paper Series no. 498: Trade, Wages, and Collective Bargaining: Evidence from France

Abstract

Using a unique French firm-level dataset, we study how international trade affects the wage bargaining process at the firm level. Using instrumental variables techniques, we find that exports shocks have a positive effect on the probability that a firm-level wage agreement is signed, while shocks increasing imports of finished goods have the opposite effect. Exports increase wages for all occupational categories, whereas offshoring has heterogeneous effects. In firms where wage agreements are frequently signed, the export wage premium is larger, and blue-collar workers are protected against the negative impact of offshoring on wages.

Juan Carluccio, Denis Fougère and Erwan Gautier
July 2014

Classification JEL : F16, J51, E24

Keywords : trade, wages, collective bargaining