Although economists have long pointed to the aggregate gains from increased economic integration, the popular perception of globalization is much more pessimistic. Workers feel less secure in their jobs and fear wage losses and unemployment. This book explores these issues, and asks whether the concerns are warranted.

Globalization and the growing integration of national markets have had profound effects on the operation of markets, not least labour markets. In this book, a range of leading commentators on globalization and labour markets present original contribution on the interaction between these two areas. This book assesses the impact of globalization on trade, cross-border investment and migration from both a theoretical and econometric standpoint and discusses the possible applications of this analysis for both industrialized and developing countries.

In this paper we argue that the flexibility of an economy's labour market plays a role in determining the gains from trade liberalization, the level of short-run adjustment costs, and the relative value of these two measures. To do so, we describe the model introduced in Davidson and Matusz (2000) which allows us to solve for adjustment costs when workers vary according to ability and jobs differ in terms of the skills that they require. We then report results based on simulations of this model. We find that economies with sluggish labour markets have the least to gain from liberalization. The reason is that while the removal of trade barriers creates large benefits, they are almost completely offset by large short-run adjustment costs. In contrast, we find that with either very flexible or very slothful labour markets the gains from liberalization are always significantly larger than the short-run adjustment costs.

Over the last two decades there has been a significant deterioration in the labour-market outcomes of less-skilled labour in most OECD countries. This has manifested itself either in terms of a decline in wages relative to the most skilled, or in terms of the relative likelihood of being in work. Much recent research has focused on the impact of trade and skill-biased technical change as alternative explanations of the phenomenon; some has also investigated the role of cross-border investment and migration. This paper reviews recent research on globalization and labour-market adjustment and sets the scene for the papers that follow.

Interactions between the globalization process and labor market adjustment have been the focus of a major research programme in recent years. This volume contains papers by leading trade analysts on all aspects of these interactions embracing theory, empirical evidence and policy dimensions. Contributors include Alan Deardorff, Ronald Jones, Rod Falvey, John Whalley, Doug Nelson and Lars Lundberg.

To the classical driving forces of migration such as poverty, oppression and war, yet another is being added: globalization. With the increasing economic interdependence between countries migration has become one of the important links. Many less developed countries (LDCs) accept migration of their workers to developed countries (DCs) because it reduces the pressure on unemployment, and remittances increase the capital inflow to the country. On the other hand, some of the DCs see migration as a threat to their employment and system of social security. Participants of the Second Annual Workshop of the Network EU-LDC Trade and Capital Relations gave a broad view of the problem which both DCs and LDCs are facing in connection with the globalization of labour markets. This volume consists of 10 chapters by scholars from the European Union (EU) and LDCs. Each paper is discussed in terms of its policy relevance by a policy maker as well as by an academic specializing in the field. In the opening chapter we aim to do justice to the discussion during the Workshop in Rotterdam in May 1995 at which preliminary versions of all chapters were presented. Edited versions of the interven tions by the policy makers and experts are included as far as possible af ter the chapters. The opinions expressed in this volume are those of the authors and not necessarily those of their organizations.