Who's Afraid of Virginia Wu? The Labor Composition and Labor Gains of Trade

Globalization has brought about concerns of domestic job losses due to outsourcing to countries like China. The 'employment footprint' concept provides new insights into the implications of trade for employment. Using this approach for the period of 1995-2008, we analyze the relation of US jobs with international trade, particularly with China. Furthermore, we compare the US employment footprint with its labor endowment to assess if the country could be self-sufficient in terms of labor. We find that the US's consumption increasingly depends on foreign workers. The country 'consumes' more labor than is nationally available; thus, self-sufficiency is not possible under realistic assumptions. Moreover, the US has benefited from jobs -especially in services -generated by the world economy. Referring to Albee's famous play about living in illusions, we use 'Virginia Wu' as a Chinese version of 'Virginia Woolf' to argue that the perceived threat of China (Virginia Wu) is only an illusion.

show abstract

scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.

Contact Info

customersupport@researchsolutions.com

10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614

Henderson, NV 89052, USA

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Blog Terms and Conditions API Terms Privacy Policy Contact Cookie Preferences Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

Made with 💙 for researchers

Part of the Research Solutions Family.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Wu? The Labor Composition and Labor Gains of Trade

Cited by 2 publications

References 21 publications

Is employment globalizing?

Is employment globalizing?

Who’s afraid of Virginia Wu? US employment footprints and self-sufficiency

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About