Intra-industry Trade Liberalization: Why Skilled Workers are More Likely to Support Free Trade

This paper presents a theoretical model and empirical analysis that connects the prevalence of intra-industry trade with increased wage inequality from trade liberalization in both skilled and unskilled labor abundant countries. The Stolper Samuelson effect is incorporated into an intra-industry trade liberalization (intra-ITL) hypothesis where skilled labor opposes protectionism in all countries engaged in intra-industry trade because skilled workers gain at the expense of unskilled workers from multilateral trade liberalization within the skill-intensive sector. We examine empirical evidence on whether skilled individuals are more supportive of trade liberalization than unskilled individuals across 31 countries with different levels of intra-industry trade and skill endowments. We find that the extent to which countries engage in intra-industry trade in high-tech commodities is strongly linked with the intensity of opposition to protection by skilled labor. Regression results strongly support our hypothesis that skilled workers, almost everywhere, are more likely to support free trade.