Globalization and Investment in Human Capital

Abstract

Workers are becoming increasingly concerned about the impact that globalization has on their domestic labor market. While existing research typically focuses on the e¤ects on labor market outcomes such as wages and employment, we examine whether American workers respond to globalization by increasing their investment in human capital. Speci…cally, we measure the extent to which o¤shoring and immigration a¤ect enrollment at institutions of higher education. The results indicate that both o¤shoring and immigration increase enrollment at community colleges, particularly among older students. We conclude that workers in the U.S. are responding to o¤shoring and immigration by acquiring the skills necessary to compete in a global economy.Keywords: globalization, higher education, enrollment, o¤shoring, immigration JEL Codes: F16, I2, J24

Escaping a protectionist rut: Policy mechanisms for trade reform in a democracy

“…The model exhibits a feedback mechanism in which past trade policy determines the skill composition of the older generation, and hence the size of the political constituencies for and against trade reform. This key mechanism is consistent with empirical evidence: Hickman and Olney (2010) and Atkin (2010) both find support for Stolper-Samuelson effects on skill acquisition (in the U.S. and Mexico, respectively) and Scheve and Slaughter (2001) find that voters' support for trade barriers is significantly and negatively correlated with skill level. 2 Given the population's skill composition at the time of the vote and the expected trade regime in the future, we find the potential for multiple political steady states, which are defined as economic equilibria under which the majority will vote to maintain the status quo trade policy.…”

Offshoring, immigration, and the native wage distribution

“…4 4 In addition, Hickman and Olney (2011) examine the impact of globalization on human capital investment and find that community college enrollments increase in response to offshoring and immigration. …”

Trade, educational costs, and skill acquisition

“…ENDNOTES 1 The empirical evidence on this issue is mixed. See Atkin (2016) for Mexico, Edmonds, Pavcnik, and Topalova (2010) for India, Hickman and Olney (2011) for the US, Li (2018) and Lin and Long (2018) Davidson and Sly (2014) is another paper on trade and education in a non-traditional H-O framework. They model education both as a signaling device and as a method to enhance worker's productivity.…”