Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/163143 
Year of Publication: 
2017
Series/Report no.: 
ADBI Working Paper No. 644
Publisher: 
Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), Tokyo
Abstract: 
This paper examines the hypothesis that manufacturing industries in Japan that have been exposed to import competition from the People's Republic of China (PRC) experience greater skill upgrading (increased demand for skilled workers). Using an industry panel dataset over the period 1980-2010, we exploit variations of worker skill categories by occupation, paired with detailed information and communication technology investment data in the employment share regression. We find that while the PRC's comparative advantages in exports have shifted from labor-intensive to more capital-intensive products, this has not resulted in substituting skilled workers in Japanese manufacturing. Rather, it has had the profound positive effect of raising overall demand for skilled workers. Most of the competition effects were felt among production workers, leaving middle-skilled workers largely unaffected.
Subjects: 
import competition
skill upgrading
skilled workers
manufacturing
JEL: 
D24
F17
O47
O57
R15
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by-nc-nd Logo
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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