摘要:
The first chapter presents a model that introduces foreign firms' competition in product and factor markets through FDI in a otherwise standard trade liberalization setting. It is shown that the undermined competitive position of native firms affects the comparative advantage of the country. This effect depends mainly on the size and dispersion of technological transfers. The final outcome is also affected by the ability of native firms to imitate the more advanced technologies. The case of China's entry into the WTO reveals the relevance of this feature, as the elimination of the dual economic structure is mandated along with a fall in tariffs. It is shown that the required process of FDI liberalization can generate a significant impact on the factorial distribution of income. The impact on resource allocation seems to be minor due to evenly distributed technological gaps across industries. The second and third chapters focus on the determinants on cyclical movements in aggregate employment. In the second chapter a multi-sector general equilibrium model is used to estimate the evolution of market-clearing wages in the last 40 years in the United States. A comparison with observed average wages reveals that their difference—the wage gap—can substantially explain the path of the unemployment rate. Aside from emphasizing unemployment as an involuntary phenomenon, the neoclassical nature of the labor demand curve over which real wages are measured reveals that the role for aggregate demand policies is dubious. This contrasts with the predictions of most natural rate theories that introduce wide room for demand management in their labor demand side. Similar results follow for other four OECD countries. Chapter 3 challenges the conventional view implicit in one-sector models of the business cycle that aggregate fluctuations are mainly caused by aggregate shocks. It provides evidence regarding the procyclical pattern of interindustry wage differentials. This reflects that