Marginal intra-industry trade and labour market adjustment: The Australian experience

The objective of this research is to investigate labour market adjustment in Australian manufacturing industry over the period 1992–2000, a time of significant adjustment in the country’s trade pattern. Specifically, the focus is on the so-called smooth adjustment hypothesis, which posits that, comp...

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Main Authors: Thorpe, Michael, Leitao, N.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Economic Society of Australia 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/47279
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author Thorpe, Michael
Leitao, N.
author_facet Thorpe, Michael
Leitao, N.
author_sort Thorpe, Michael
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The objective of this research is to investigate labour market adjustment in Australian manufacturing industry over the period 1992–2000, a time of significant adjustment in the country’s trade pattern. Specifically, the focus is on the so-called smooth adjustment hypothesis, which posits that, compared with inter-industry trade, intra-industry trade (IIT) expansion is associated with relatively lower factor adjustment costs. A dynamic panel data approach (GMM-System) is employed. We find that there is a negative correlation between changes in employment and increased IIT. This result provides support for the smooth adjustment hypothesis. Given the rise in IIT as a proportion of Australia’s overall trade during the period under review, the resulting trade related adjustment in labour markets is likely to have been less than otherwise expected.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-472792018-03-29T09:07:09Z Marginal intra-industry trade and labour market adjustment: The Australian experience Thorpe, Michael Leitao, N. marginal intra-industry trade dynamic panel data labour market adjustment The objective of this research is to investigate labour market adjustment in Australian manufacturing industry over the period 1992–2000, a time of significant adjustment in the country’s trade pattern. Specifically, the focus is on the so-called smooth adjustment hypothesis, which posits that, compared with inter-industry trade, intra-industry trade (IIT) expansion is associated with relatively lower factor adjustment costs. A dynamic panel data approach (GMM-System) is employed. We find that there is a negative correlation between changes in employment and increased IIT. This result provides support for the smooth adjustment hypothesis. Given the rise in IIT as a proportion of Australia’s overall trade during the period under review, the resulting trade related adjustment in labour markets is likely to have been less than otherwise expected. 2012 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/47279 10.1111/j.1759-3441.2011.00156.x Economic Society of Australia restricted
spellingShingle marginal intra-industry trade
dynamic panel data
labour market adjustment
Thorpe, Michael
Leitao, N.
Marginal intra-industry trade and labour market adjustment: The Australian experience
title Marginal intra-industry trade and labour market adjustment: The Australian experience
title_full Marginal intra-industry trade and labour market adjustment: The Australian experience
title_fullStr Marginal intra-industry trade and labour market adjustment: The Australian experience
title_full_unstemmed Marginal intra-industry trade and labour market adjustment: The Australian experience
title_short Marginal intra-industry trade and labour market adjustment: The Australian experience
title_sort marginal intra-industry trade and labour market adjustment: the australian experience
topic marginal intra-industry trade
dynamic panel data
labour market adjustment
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/47279