Protection_and_Real_Wages

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1、“ProtectionandRealWages”:TheHistoryofanIdeaRonaldW.JonesUniversityofRochesterFewcontributionsineconomicshaveattainedasmuchprominenceasthe1941articlebyWolfgangStolperandPaulSamuelsonthatborethetitle,“ProtectionandRealWages.”Itsufferedthesamebirthingpain

2、sexperiencedbysomeotherfamousarticles–initialrejectionbyamajorjournal,inthiscasetheAmericanEconomicReview,untilfindingahomeintheReviewofEconomicStudies.ItssuccessisreflectedintheGoldenJubileecelebrationattheUniversityofMichiganin1991.Thevolumeoftheproc

3、eedingsoftheconferencecontainsa“SelectedAnnotatedBibliography”of144items,afractionofthenumberofarticlesmakingreferencetothisimportanttheorem.Inrecentyears,inwhichtheimpactofincreasingglobalizationandtradeonrealwageshascommandedattentioninthepopularpres

4、s,thetheoremisevenexplicitlymentioned,althoughitissometimesconfusedwiththerelatedbutseparate“FactorPriceEqualizationTheorem”.ThemessageoftheoriginalStolper-Samuelsontheoremissimpleandpowerful:Acountryproducingtwocommoditiesinperfectlycompetitiveconditi

5、ons,withtwoproductiveinputs(callthemcapitalandlabor)andimportingitslabor-intensivecommodity,couldunambiguouslyimprovetherealwageofitsworkersbylevyingatariffonimports.Moreexplicitly,suchprotectionwouldservetoincreasethenominalwageratebyagreaterpercentag

6、ethanthatofthepriceoftheimportgood.Thetheoremremainsasabenchmarkagainstwhichmostdiscussionsoftheeffectofprotectionorinternationaltradeonwagesismeasured.Thepurposeofthepresentarticleistodescribe1howtheinterpretationofthetheoremhasbeenalteredinsucceeding

7、decades.Scoresofcriticshavearguedthatthetheoremisbasicallyflawedbecauseofthedifficultiesinestablishingresultsinthecaseofmanycommoditiesandproductivefactors,resultsthatmatchtheelegancefoundintheoriginalsetting.AsIhopetoreveal,thereisasimplequitegeneralr

8、esult,easilyobtainable,thatrequiresare-interpretationoftheoriginalproposition.Suchare-interpretationavoidsthedifficultiesthatbedeviledtheeffortsfacedbymathematicaleconomiststogeneralizethetheoremandyieldsaresultthatisofdirectrelevanceno