Assessing the Impact of Trade Liberalization on Import-Competing Industries in the Appalachian Region.

摘要

US manufacturing has undergone significant restructuring over the past 40 years. Relative to other sectors of the economy, it has shrunk substantially. Employment has declined from 26% of all workers in 1960 to 14% in 2000, while manufacturing output as a share of GDP has fallen from 27% to 16%. At the same time, significant reallocation has occurred across industries within manufacturing, primarily from less skill- and capital-intensive industries to more skill- and capital-intensive industries. These changes are consistent with the implications of comparative advantage. As US trade barriers have fallen, low-wage countries like China and India have begun exporting to the US many of the more labor-intensive products, such as apparel and footwear, which were formerly produced domestically. Appalachian manufacturing will face significant pressure from import competition over the near and medium term and will face significantly larger adjustments than the rest of the US. The challenges faced by Appalachia are the result of a number of related factors.