TRADE LIBERALIZATION, LABOR DEMAND SHIFTS AND EARNINGS INEQUALITY IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

This article investigates the relative wage between skilled and low skilled labor in a small open economy with traditionally few labor market rigidities. It looks at the role of relative skills demand and supply in determining skills premium and explores the extent to which trade liberalization affects the skills wage gap. Indications are that greater openness is linked to higher labor demand elasticity and/or technological progress. The evidence also suggests that rapid acceleration in labor demand for skills and trade liberalization has widened the wage gap between skilled and low skilled labor. This result persists regardless of industry type.