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Industrialization, Globalization,
and Labor Markets Introduction
In standard models of labor markets, wages are equal to the “marginal product” (or
incremental output) of an additional unit of labor. In other words, the amount a
worker earns is equal to the amount he or she can produce. Intuitively, firms take
on workers until the productivity of their last hire is equal to the market wage rate.Presentation
If the wage rate were below productivity, firms would find it profitable to hire
more workers, whereas if the wage were above productivity, firms would have an
incentive to shed workers. Under this reasoning, more productive workers get paid
more, which implies that labor productivity growth ultimately leads to wage
growth in the long term. Indeed, empirical evidence shows labor costs and labor
productivity are strongly related across nations.
Now consider the neoclassical growth model, where economic growth is driven byPresentation
physical capital accumulation, technology, and human capital. These factors all
increase labor productivity, and hence, labor demand. In essence, as economies
grow, more manpower is required, so labor demand increases. Provided the labor
supply doesn’t expand too quickly from pop- ulation growth, economic growth
leads to wage growth in a wide class of economic models. With the above primer
in mind, this chapter investi- gates the impact of globalization on labor markets
across developing and developed countries. It discusses common economicPresentation
models of develop- ment, industrialization, and industrial policies, focusing on
domestic labor market consequences, and it broadly analyzes the experiences of
American, Mexican, Chinese, and Indian labor markets in recent decades.
Lewis Model of Development
After World War II, many nations were rebuilding from the war or had just won
independence. This climate sparked a renewed interest in eco- nomic theories of
development. At the same time the neoclassical growth model was being
developed, in 1954 Sir Arthur Lewis devised what came to be known as the Lewis
two-sector “dual” model of development, for which he later won a Nobel Prize.
Born in St. Lucia, then a British colonial territory in the Caribbean, Lewis was
deeply knowledgeable about eco- nomic history. He had a lifelong interest inPresentation
practical development policy and spent years in the field, advising Ghana and
developing Caribbean nations. As opposed to the broader neoclassical growth
model, which describes long-run growth and the behavior of emerging economies
as they catch up to leading economies, the Lewis model shows how a traditional
agricultural economy transforms into a modern manufacturing and service-based
economy. According to Lewis, an abundant supply of cheap labor allows
underdeveloped agrarian economies to accumulate capital and industrialize.
While investigating the early Industrial Revolution in Britain, Lewis was puzzled
that wages had stagnated while savings, investment, and prof- its multiplied.
(Later research by other scholars challenged Lewis’s reading of those trends; some
have argued that, at least during the late Industrial Revolution, wages soared,Presentation
spurring laborsaving inventions in England.) Lewis remarked that in standard
economic models, a surge in investment should have resulted in rising labor
productivity and wages, alongside declining returns to capital. He cleverly solved
the conundrum by making several alternate assumptions. First, he assumed
developing economies possess two sectors, agricultural, where most of the
population initially resides, and urban, where industrial activity takes place.
Second, reminis- cent of the economics of Reverend Malthus, he assumed that in
the agri- cultural sector, labor was effectively in unlimited supply. This implied
that agricultural labor productivity was minimal and wages remained at a
subsistence level. Third, he proposed that the burgeoning urban sector possessed
higher productivity with substantial capital, akin to the neoclas- sical growth
model economy. In the Lewis model, capitalists in the urban sector pay relatively
low wages because it only takes a slight premium oversubsistence wages to attract
workers from the country to the city. Capital accumulation and technological
advancement cause productivity to increase in the urban sector, yet urban wagesPresentation
stay relatively flat due to the rural labor surplus.
The upshot is that urban business owners are able to make ample prof- its and
invest heavily in new capital. Over time, the urban sector expands and modern
manufacturing and service industries emerge. Urban labor demand stays strong
and workers from the agricultural sector keep moving to the big city. However,
because urban growth steadily diminishes the amount of labor in the countryside,
the economy eventually reaches a “turning point” (or labor supply constraint)
when rural labor is nearly exhausted. After the turning point occurs, wages in the
city begin to increase even faster, eating into industrialist profits. (Think of China
today.) By this time, most of the population lives in urban areas, and going
forward, the neoclassical growth model is broadly applicable. After the turning
point, labor disputes and strikes increase, since workers have new- found
bargaining power. Future generations become used to greater con- sumption levels
and have higher workplace expectations, inviting collective bargaining and
burgeoning regulatory regimes. Governments start financ- ing more basic
education, which increases human capital and enhances productivity. As the
economy becomes prosperous and more advanced, it orients itself toward services
and internal consumption, with an export sector that produces increasingly
complex goods requiring substantial skill and technology.
Unlike traditional models, the Lewis model illustrates why: (1) megacities in
developing nations have shantytowns on their outskirts, full of unskilled workers
from the countryside looking for urban work; (2) in developing economies,
workers typically prefer regular wage employment to self-employment but often
cannot find it; and (3) many individuals work full time yet are still poor. These
observations are con- sistent with the Lewis model. Due to the rural labor surplus,
the model predicts that developing countries feature low wages that do not
increase much initially as the population moves to cities. After the turning point,
wages may grow much faster. Higher incomes can be saved, supporting
investment and further economic growth. On the other hand, the financial sector in
emerging economies is often dreadfully underdeveloped. Worker may find few
safe havens to keep their savings, and it may be difficult to obtain loans for new
business ventures, even at very high interest rates. Due to deficient financial
intermediary institutions and a dearth of domestic savings, developing nations may
require foreign capital to finance indus- trial investment and economic growth. In
the 19th century, American states borrowed heavily from wealthier nations
abroad—to build canals, for example—and sometimes ended up defaulting.
Poverty Traps, Big-Pushes, and Take-Offs
During the 1950s, around the time that Lewis was formulating his two- sector
theory, another famous model dominated development economics. Called the
“big-push” model of economic development, it arose out of a paper by Paul
Rosenstein-Rodan in 1943. Its key insight was that some poor countries exist in
“poverty traps” which require substantial invest- ment to jump start economic
growth. The big-push model of development is based on the idea that poor
economies suffer from “coordination fail- ures,” meaning private sector
organizations lack the necessary incentives to adopt modern production techniques
and achieve economies of scale. Unless there is an expectation that other firms
will similarly invest in industrialization, there is unlikely to be sufficient consumer
demand and capital funding to make such costly investments worthwhile. Each
com- pany only kicks-off investment projects if the others do, yet it is difficult to
get companies to start investing all of a sudden. (Some call this type of conundrum
a “chicken or egg” problem, because it isn’t clear how one can come into being
without the other existing first.)
Consider the plight of a poor farmer in a traditional subsistence econ- omy. He
would like to improve the yield of his soil with fertilizers, so the economy requires
either the construction of a fertilizer factory or the import of foreign fertilizer.
However, a factory requires infrastructure (such as roads, electric power, and
water supply), trucks, fuel, capital investment, engineers, and packaging. And
importing requires a dock, roads, trucks, fuel, and credit from bankers. It isn’t at
all likely that any single farmer would be able to carry out either of these
scenarios. Mean- while, ordinary citizens do not invest in education and training
because there are no jobs available that would make use of higher level skills.
Foreign engineers, bankers, and lawyers may be required to fill the domes- tic
void. In this view, what is needed is a powerful entity—typically a national
government—to coordinate the decisions of firms and house- holds to overcome
market synchronization failures. This coordinating entity would provide
investment funding to the private sector to build: (1) an industrial base with new
technologies and (2) education and train- ing facilities for workers. The economy
would then “take off,” driven by consumer demand. One classic example of a big-
push success story is Meiji Japan, when the Japanese government—propelled by
Japan’s “zaibatsu,” or pyramidal business groups—coordinated a rapid
industrialization in the final decades of the 19th century. Another instance is the
postwar American South, which received a big-push catalyst from public capital
investments to build schools, hospitals, roads, dams, and power plants during the
Great Depression and World War II.
If the least developed economies are stuck in poverty traps and face massive
coordination failures, they probably won’t be able to solve their problems on their
own since tax bases and state coffers are too small. Development economists have
frequently argued that the least devel- oped economies need foreign aid and loans
(such as from the World Bank or International Monetary Fund) to get out of this
rut. These funds could be used for private sector investment and public goods like
infrastructure, education, and health care. If an economy is capable of supporting
an increasing returns industry, then the case for massive injections of capital is all
the stronger. Large-scale industries can support worker payrolls, drive export
growth, and provide tax revenues to gov- ernments. With substantial foreign
investment, an economy stuck in a poverty trap will hopefully begin to grow.
Then, after it has left the trap, growth will be self-sustaining. Ideally the economy
would obtain access to foreign technologies, build domestic universities, and
eventually con- duct its own research and development. Labor productivity would
grow quickly, resulting in higher wages for both skilled and unskilled workers.
The influential mid-20th century economist Alexander Gerschenkron argued that,
driven by heavy state involvement—and the adoption of foreign methods and
borrowed technology, as stressed by American economist Thorstein Veblen—
backward countries could accelerate eco- nomic growth.
Big-push development theory was the leading concept in development economics
throughout the 1950s and 1960s. It was thought that econo- mies all went through
the same stages of growth. The proper mix of sav- ings, investment, and foreign
aid was all that was needed to power them. International development aid was
intended to catalyze emerging econo- mies and ignite self-sustaining growth. Big-
push thinking lost favor during the 1970s and 1980s, in part due to the apparent
failure of foreign invest- ment and aid to produce significant increases in
economic growth and productivity in Africa. The theory was displaced by market
liberalization and privatization policies, although big-push ideas—sometimes
combined with market liberalization—have reemerged over the past couple
decades, chiefly among economists in advanced nations who stress the importance
of foreign aid.
By and large, modern empirical studies lend little clear support to the big-push
model. If the poorest economies are stuck in poverty traps and a big-push effort is
essential to kindling growth, then developing nations receiving aid should grow
faster than economies receiving little or no aid. Yet if anything, the cross-country
data indicate the opposite is true. Also, the handful of countries that successfully
underwent major growth transitions—or take-offs—over the past half century
were disproportion- ately in East Asia. Despite the fact that their governments
were instrumen- tal in fostering economic growth, these economies only received
a small amount of foreign aid on average. Big-pushes require massive investment,
but with the exception of Singapore and possibly Hong Kong, investment was not
exceptionally high at the beginning of East Asian take-offs.
Some big-push proponents have remarked that over the past two cen- turies, the
output gap between the richest and poorest countries has gotten much larger,
meaning these two groups have diverged. By and large, the wealthiest economies
prospered while the poorest stagnated. Although it is possible many poor countries
(particularly in Africa) have been stuck in a classic poverty trap, the actual growth
trends are, at best, only broadly con- sistent with the need for big-pushes. Recent
studies suggest weak institutions are probably a better explanation for the
lackluster growth of the poorest economies over this long time frame. Many critics
of foreign aid to sub- Saharan Africa and other poor regions point to studies
showing a negative statistical relationship between the volume of foreign aid and
subsequent economic growth. Based on this evidence, they argue that aid erodes
insti- tutional quality by increasing the power of kleptocratic elites and corrupt
government officials, and in practice, is really just a windfall for despots.
Proponents of foreign aid contend that such destructive outcomes can be prevented
through enhanced monitoring and accountability measures.
Industrial Policy
Big-push investment projects—whether financed with tax revenues, domestic
savings, or foreign credit—are a form of “industrial policy.” By definition,
industrial policies consist of sector-specific initiatives that enhance
industrialization, productivity growth, and national competitive- ness, all aiming to
promote the national interest. These policies have tradi- tionally involved
economic restructuring in the industrial, manufacturing, and agricultural export-
oriented sectors. Half a century ago, in line with big-push thinking, development
economists believed that forceful govern- ment interventions were the key to
industrial policy. Based on historical evidence and theoretical developments,
economists today are more likely to stress the importance of industrial policy
driven by private initiative, albeit within a framework supported by the public
sector. These concepts are potentially relevant to all economies, whether advanced
or developing, and the optimal set of industrial policies differs according to the
circum- stances of each economy.
Although implementing industrial policies involves controversy and risk, the
rewards can be enormous. Government officials and private firms can work
closely together to implement efficient restructurings, though in practice, these
alliances may also increase corruption. One classic industrial policy is the
subsidization of a brand new industry: governments may pro- vide infrastructure,
low-cost capital, or even protection from overseas com- petitors in the form of
trade barriers. For example, in recent years China has given favored domestic
firms free land, subsidized energy, low-interest loans, insider information, and
favorably rigged bids. If successful, new industries take off, resulting in demand
spillovers across other domestic sectors, which generate even greater employment
and output.
Critics argue that industrial policies are likely to be disastrous because
governments are poor candidates to predict which industries will thrive.
For one, the venture capital industry has trouble forecasting which projects will
ultimately be successful, so it is difficult to see how a government agency, using
taxpayer funds, could do better. Even if the bureaucracy in charge of an industrial
policy project is honest and relatively efficient, critics contend that it probably
wouldn’t be able to execute ventures with nearly the same resourcefulness and
drive as private sector businesses. Furthermore, once an industrial policy directive
is underway, it is difficult to gauge the success of long-term projects or thwart the
rent-seeking efforts of powerful private sector agents. There is certainly evidence
from past industrial policy failures to support these charges. With its “Cassa del
Mezzogiorno” (or Fund for the South) program to develop and industri- alize its
backward southern economy after World War II, Italy experienced tremendous
waste and corruption. At least a third of the funds were esti- mated to have been
squandered. Factories never became operational and sham enterprises existed only
to collect government grants. In post- colonial Africa, bureaucracies have often
been dominated by political, tribal, and family influence, leading to a long list of
failed industrial policy projects across many nations.
Other countries have succeeded with their industrial policies in the past. Japan’s
“Ministry of International Trade and Industry” (MITI) coor- dinated industrial and
trade policy after World War II, supporting the development of the petrochemical
industry in the 1950s, the electronics industry in the 1960s, the computer industry
in the 1970s, and the biotechnology and aviation industries in the 1980s and
1990s. China has picked a number of winners in its manufacturing sector. If not
for generous public assistance, it is possible that some Chinese industries would be
much smaller or not exist at all today. Chile is another exam- ple. Chilean grapes,
forest products, and salmon are all successful export industries that were aided by
government assistance and subsidies. Industrial policies may take different forms
within an industry over time. In Mexico, the motor vehicle and computer
industries were ini- tially supported by import-substitution policies that
encouraged local production to take the place of imports. Later they benefitted
from pref- erential tariff policies under NAFTA. Finally, governments must mon-
itor subsidized industries and quickly phase out the support of failures. This is
difficult to do in practice. East Asian governments have been much more
successful than Latin American governments at this aspect of industrial policy.
Restructuring, Diversification, and Development
Economic development requires a shift from subsistence agriculture to modern
industries exhibiting higher productivity levels. At low levels of development,
economic growth entails a decreasing degree of concentration—meaning
production becomes more diversified across sectors. At this stage of development,
sectors within an economy exhibit vastly uneven productivity and growth.
Entrepreneurs and businesses are discovering their own cost structures and
learning how to improve their bottom line.
Research shows that when economies reach per capita income of approximately
$15,000 to $20,000 in today’s American dollars, they reach a tipping point: their
economies start to become more concentrated and less diversified. At this stage of
growth, economies have found their com- parative advantages, and they are
leveraging economies of scale. Their export sector is usually well developed,
concentrating on a small number of manufactured goods that are highly popular
with buyers around the world. Historical patterns of production, resource
advantages, superior entrepreneurship, and pure chance all play vital roles in
determining the basket of goods an economy specializes in producing and
exporting. As these economies grow and prosper, their production shifts to
complex goods that exhibit complementarities in production—meaning high-
quality labor and capital inputs are necessary—and provide greater value-added.
In economies that develop successfully, labor moves from less produc- tive
activities to more productive ones, raising output and wages. This can be achieved
by sectoral reallocations, such as transitioning from agriculture to manufacturing.
In fact, labor in developing countries is about three to four times more productive
in manufacturing than in agriculture, and wages are consequently higher. By
successfully expanding the manufactur- ing sector, a developing economy can
raise productivity and output, even in the absence of major technological
improvements. Over the past several decades, this is precisely what happened in
developing Asian nations such as China, India, the Philippines, and Indonesia.
These economies much more successful than Latin American governments at this
aspect of industrial policy.
Restructuring, Diversification, and Development
Economic development requires a shift from subsistence agriculture to modern
industries exhibiting higher productivity levels. At low levels of development,
economic growth entails a decreasing degree of concentration—meaning
production becomes more diversified across sectors. At this stage of development,
sectors within an economy exhibit vastly uneven productivity and growth.
Entrepreneurs and businesses are discovering their own cost structures and
learning how to improve their bottom line.
Research shows that when economies reach per capita income of approximately
$15,000 to $20,000 in today’s American dollars, they reach a tipping point: their
economies start to become more concentrated and less diversified. At this stage of
growth, economies have found their com- parative advantages, and they are
leveraging economies of scale. Their export sector is usually well developed,
concentrating on a small number of manufactured goods that are highly popular
with buyers around the world. Historical patterns of production, resource
advantages, superior entrepreneurship, and pure chance all play vital roles in
determining the basket of goods an economy specializes in producing and
exporting. As these economies grow and prosper, their production shifts to
complex goods that exhibit complementarities in production—meaning high-
quality labor and capital inputs are necessary—and provide greater value-added.
In economies that develop successfully, labor moves from less produc- tive
activities to more productive ones, raising output and wages. This can be achieved
by sectoral reallocations, such as transitioning from agriculture to manufacturing.
In fact, labor in developing countries is about three to four times more productive
in manufacturing than in agriculture, and wages are consequently higher. By
successfully expanding the manufactur- ing sector, a developing economy can
raise productivity and output, even in the absence of major technological
improvements. Over the past several decades, this is precisely what happened in
developing Asian nations such as China, India, the Philippines, and Indonesia.
These economies
At the other extreme, the absence of managerial capital in emerging economies
can impede economic growth and entrepreneurship. As emerg- ing economies
grow and develop educational institutions, their stock of managerial capital builds.
To bridge the gap in the meantime, they can import foreign managers, copy the
best practices of multinational managers, or hire consulting firms to increase
managerial capital.
Industrialization and Population Growth
There is no doubt that industrialization is responsible for the massive increase in
world population over the past two centuries. During the early Industrial
Revolution, the British were able to maintain their living stan- dards despite rapid
population growth because industrialization and inter- national trade created such
robust demand for their domestic labor. In the early-19th century, after the
Industrial Revolution ignited in Britain then spread elsewhere, there were one
billion people on the planet, compared to over seven billion today. Just in the past
50 years, the world population has doubled (although world population growth
rates have steadily declined after peaking in the 1960s). All developing nations go
through the “demographic transition” process: first death rates decline due to
better living conditions and medical care, and thereafter birth rates fall due to
lower infant mortality rates and more work opportunities for women. Economic
development also extends life expectancy. Today it ranges from about 80 years at
birth in the United States, Japan, and much of Europe, to 50 years in parts of
Africa, such as Zimbabwe and Somalia.
Theory of Globalization and Labor Markets
In canonical economic growth models, wages increase as economies develop.
Emerging economies accumulate capital and improve their tech- nologies, thereby
increasing labor productivity and boosting labor demand and wages. At the same
time, an increased labor supply resulting from population growth puts downward
pressure on wages during the industri- alization process. By and large, the
evidence suggests development leads to higher wages in spite of population
growth, at least after a Lewis turning