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Between 1986 and 1990, the Mexican government reduced tariffs and import license coverage by more than 50%. The author, using micro-level data, analyzes the impact of trade reform on Mexican wages and employment. Industries that had greater reductions in protection levels, she finds, had a larger percentage of low-skill workers. Wage dispersion increased in both the nontradables sector and, to a much greater degree, the tradables sector. This pattern suggests that trade reform increased wage inequality. The decline in import license coverage appears to have reduced relative wages of workers in reformed industries by 2%, but did not affect relative employment. Reductions in tariffs had no statistically significant effect on relative wages or relative employment.Between 1986 and 1990, Mexico undertook a dramatic trade liberalization program, reducing average tariffs and the percentage of domestic output covered by import licenses by more than 50%. Trade liberalization may have stimulated economic growth, but it may also have adversely affected workers in industries that experienced an increase in competition

The authors construct a data set by industry by state by ownership for establishments in the United States using 1987 and 1992 U.S. Census and Bureau of Economic Analysis matched data to investigate the relationship between foreign ownership and wages. They find evidence that foreign‐owned establishments pay higher wages in manufacturing, retail trade, and other relatively low‐skill industries, but not in other higher‐skill industries. A growth in the fraction of employment in foreign establishments was not significantly associated with an increase in overall wages. There is no evidence of a wage spillover to domestic establishments. (JEL J3, F2)

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effects of the phase out and elimination of Section 936 on the number of establishments, value added, employment, and wages in Puerto Rico's manufacturing. Our results show the elimination of Section 936 had the effect of decreasing average manufacturing wages by 16.7%, and decreasing the number of manufacturing establishments by 18.7% to 28.0% Zadia M. Feliciano NBER 5 Hanover Square, 16th Floor

After the Asian Financial Crisis, Thailand's trade policy has been driven by the proliferation of free trade agreements (FTAs). We use firm‐level data to estimate the effects of reductions in tariffs applied to Thai imports on Thai firms. Reductions in Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) tariffs were associated with increasing firm employment and exports, lower ASEAN‐China import tariffs were associated with increasing firm employment, while lower tariffs from the Japan‐Thailand FTA were associated with reductions in firm employment and increasing likelihood of International Organization for Standardization (ISO) certifications. FTAs were associated with a decrease in firm R&D spending. (JEL F1, F2, F6)

This study is being performed under grant number SES-9911390 from the National Science Foundation. The statistical analysis of firm-level data reported in this study was conducted at the International Investment Division, U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, under arrangements that maintained legal confidentiality requirements. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Bureau of Economic Analysis or the National Science Foundation. Special thanks are due to Li Xu and Jessica Rosen for excellent research assistant work and to the BEA for allowing us to use their facilities. We are indebted to Maria Borga, of the Bureau of Economic Analysis, for valuable comments on an earlier version of this paper presented at the annual conference of the Western Economic Association, and to participants at a session of the International Trade and Finance Association and a seminar at the Graduate Center of CUNY. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the National Bureau of Economic Research.