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Trade, Jobs, and Globalization

The Issue

Trade liberalization is often the focal point for anxiety about job insecurity, and job loss is costly for workers displaced from manufacturing industries where import competition is strong. Comprehensive adjustment and skill-building programs are therefore critical for workers hurt by this process. Unless workers can acquire the education and skills needed to succeed in a highly competitive economy, the long-run political support needed to sustain that economy will fail to develop.

Essential Reading from the Institute

Paper: Answering the Critics: Why Large American Gains from Globalization Are Plausible
by Gary Clyde Hufbauer, Peterson Institute
May 2008

Op-ed: The Payoff from Globalization
by Gary Clyde Hufbauer, Peterson Institute
and Paul L. E. Grieco, Peterson Institute
Op-ed in the Washington Post
June 7, 2005

Book Chapter: The Payoff to America from Global Integration [pdf]
Chapter in United States and the World Economy: Foreign Economic Policy for the Next Decade
by C. Fred Bergsten and the Institute for International Economics
January 2005

Policy Brief 08-2: Strengthening Trade Adjustment Assistance [pdf]
by Howard F. Rosen, Peterson Institute
January 2008

Policy Brief 08-1: "Fear" and Offshoring: The Scope and Potential Impact of Imports and Exports of Services [pdf]
by J. Bradford Jensen, Peterson Institute
and Lori G. Kletzer, Peterson Institute
January 2008

Paper: Tradable Services: Understanding the Scope and Impact of Services Outsourcing
by J. Bradford Jensen, Peterson Institute
and Lori G. Kletzer, Peterson Institute
May 2006

Book: Accelerating the Globalization of America: The Role for Information Technology
by Catherine L. Mann assisted by Jacob Funk Kirkegaard
June 2006

Testimony: Designing a National Strategy for Responding to Economic Dislocation
by Howard F. Rosen, Peterson Institute
Testimony before the Subcommittee on Investigation and Oversight House Science and Technology Committee
June 24, 2008

Testimony: Reforming Unemployment Insurance for the 21st Century Workforce
by Howard F. Rosen, Peterson Institute
Testimony before the Income Security and Family Support Subcommittee, House Ways and Means Committee
March 15, 2007

Book: Decline of US Labor Unions and the Role of Trade
by Robert E. Baldwin
May 2003

Working Paper 05-10: Importers, Exporters, and Multinationals: A Portrait of Firms in the U.S. that Trade Goods [pdf]
by Andrew B. Bernard, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth and NBER
and J. Bradford Jensen, Peterson Institute
and Peter K. Schott, Yale School of Management and NBER
September 2005

Testimony: Measuring the Costs of Trade-Related Job Loss
by Lori G. Kletzer, Peterson Institute
Testimony prepared for the Committee on Finance
United States Senate
Washington, DC
July 20, 2001

Book: Job Loss from Imports: Measuring the Costs
by Lori G. Kletzer
September 2001

Book: Globalization and the Perceptions of American Workers
by Kenneth F. Scheve and Matthew J. Slaughter
March 2001

Policy Brief 01-2: A Prescription to Relieve Worker Anxiety
by Lori G. Kletzer, Peterson Institute
and Robert E. Litan, The Brookings Institution
March 2001

Book: Has Globalization Gone Too Far?
by Dani Rodrik
March 1997