This dissertation is an examination of trade effects on workers in textiles and apparels using aggregate, cross-sectional micro, and longitudinal data. In Chapter 2, the effects of import competition (measured as an index of import price) on employment and wages are measured using OLS and two stage least squares with aggregate industry level data. Results suggest that while import competition has had a negative effect on hours worked and employment in the apparel industry, the increase in import competition over the 1977-91 period has not been a primary cause of this decline. / Adjusted wage and relative earnings indices across industries and occupations are used to analyze wage changes in Chapter 3. Also included in the analysis of Chapter 3 are wage equation models that match aggregate import data by industry to the CPS data to determine the effect of increased import share on the wages of union and nonunion workers. Production workers in the textile and apparel industries currently earn approximately 22 percent and 8 percent less, respectively, than similarly skilled workers in other manufacturing industries. Relative earnings indices indicate that in the apparel industry this negative differential has grown. Textile wages, on the other hand, have started to close the wage gap with other manufacturing wages over the same period. / Longitudinal data, matched cohorts from the CPS outgoing rotational groups (ORG) and retrospective data from the Displaced Worker Surveys, are used in Chapter 4 to analyze workers entering and exiting the textile and apparel industries. Results from both the CPS ORG and the DWS suggest that most of the wage differential in textiles and apparel come from ability differences not captured in the standard levels regression. / The results in this dissertation provides evidence that workers in the textile and apparel industries are hired from a highly competitive labor market. While other factors have caused greater injury to workers, increased import competition has the expected results of decreasing employment, while having little effect on wages. Workers in the textile and apparel industries appear to earn competitive wages compared to workers elsewhere in manufacturing, when all available controls are included in the analysis. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-08, Section: A, page: 3250. / Major Professor: Barry T. Hirsch. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_77541 |
| Contributors | Shippen, Benjamin Sumner, Jr., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 133 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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