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Most models attempting to give an account of trade-induced symmetric increase in wage inequality have abandoned the factor price equalization (FPE) framework. The present chapter retains the FPE framework and identifies a plausible route through which trade might increase wage inequality in all trading countries. A two-sector model with one constant returns sector producing basic goods and another increasing returns to scale sector producing fancy goods is developed. A quasi-linear utility function is used to capture the divide between basic and fancy goods. There are two types of productive factors, skilled and unskilled labour, and they differ with respect to their occupational options. Skilled labour can work both in the skill using fancy goods sector and in the unskilled labour using basic good producing sector, whereas unskilled labour is tied down to unskilled job. The model holds possibilities of multiple equilibria and under reasonable parameterization skill premium increases in all countries following trade.

There has been a period of slow but a steady increase in wage inequality in the Indian manufacturing sector since the mid‐1980s, which has gone hand‐in‐hand with an increase in the relative employment of skilled workers across all industries in the same period. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the co‐movement of relative employment and wages of skilled workers can be attributed to the changes in trade policy that has occurred in the Indian economy since the mid‐1980s.

The two dominant theoretical perspectives on why trade reforms lay lead to wage inequality are Heckscher–Ohlin theory and trade‐induced skill‐biased technological change (SBTC). The paper evaluates the applicability of these theoretical perspectives to the Indian case using disaggregated industry data from Annual Survey of Industries from 1973 to 1997.

Evidence was found of the validity of both the two dominant theoretical perspectives on wage inequality to explain the co‐movement in wage inequality and relative skill intensity in Indian manufacturing, with both variables increasing in the 1990s. Trade‐induced technological progress has led to an increase in relative skill intensity and wage inequality within industries. At the same time, the decline in protection that seems to have occurred more in unskilled labour‐intensive industries has led to a relative fall in the economy‐wide return to unskilled labour relative to skilled labour. Therefore, trade reforms have led to a widening of wage gap between skilled and unskilled workers, and an increase in relative skill intensity in Indian manufacturing.

The paper contributes to support of the trade‐induced SBTC hypothesis which may provide a consistent explanation of why many countries in the south experienced increases in wage inequality with the onset of trade liberalisation.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the impact of trade openness and technology import on the change in demand structure of employment toward skilled workers. Because of the limited number of empirical papers done in the case of Tunisia, this research investigates whether these factors had similar effects on relative labor demand in Tunisia to those observed in the international literature.

For this purpose, the paper uses a manufacturing industries database provided by the Tunisian National Institute, the Quantitative Economic Institute and Comtrade of United Nations for six manufacturing industries. The methodology used here is a panel data technique, and consists of estimating a dynamic relative employment equation.

Empirical results show that trade liberalization and technology change positively affect relative employment of Tunisian manufacturing industries which confirms the existence of skill biased technological change that contributes to increase the relative demand for skilled workers.

The paper adds to existing literature by studying for the first time the case of Tunisian manufacturing industries by using dynamic model. The paper deals also with an econometrics issues related to the use of suitable estimation methodology in the case of dynamic panel data at macroeconomics level.

The purpose is to establish the impact of trade on manufacturing employment in South Africa.

Two techniques, the Pooled Mean Group (PMG) and the Dynamic Common Correlated Effects (DCCE), are applied on a panel dataset comprising 26 three-digit manufacturing industries with data observed between 1970 and 2016.

The impact of trade on employment is miniscule at best and insignificant at worst once the study controls for cross-sectional dependency. This is true for both skilled and unskilled workers. Employment of skilled workers is explained by remuneration while employment of unskilled workers is explained by output dynamics.

Trade is widely attacked for causing labour market disruption through job losses. This hypothesis is not supported by data for South Africa as no link is confirmed between trade and employment of skilled and unskilled workers.

Estimating the trade and employment link for skilled and unskilled workers while controlling for both endogeneity and cross-sectional dependency.

The benefits of trade liberalization on upskilling and skill-based wage premiums for high-skilled workers have recently been questioned in policy circles, in part because of rising income inequality and populist movements in developed economies such as the USA. The purpose of this paper is to determine the effects of trade liberalization on the relative supply and demand for skills.

Through the systematic review of the literature on trade and skill acquisition, this paper isolates a total of 25 articles published over the past two decades.

Key findings demonstrate the importance of the relative development of the trading partner, with more developed countries experiencing higher upskilling, while less developed countries experience deskilling. Technology, geographic level of analysis, sector and gender were also found to be important influences on human capital acquisition associated with international trade.

Overall, the authors find support for the idea that trade with developing countries places pressure on low-skill jobs in developed countries but increases the demand for educated workers. The implications of shifts in skills for public policy-making and in terms of the skill premium on wages are discussed.

Toronto's heritage program is reporting year over year growth in both the number of listed and designated properties and the amount of money secured for heritage projects. At the same time, it is widely recognized that heritage trade skills are in decline. The purpose of this research is to examine Toronto's heritage policy in its regulatory and economic context to understand why heritage trades are struggling while the heritage program and the market for heritage professional services flourish and to suggest solutions based on existing policy tools.

This research looks at the policy documents at the federal, provincial and municipal level that determine the minimum standard for heritage conservation in Toronto. It refers to secondary research on the economic context for these regulations to understand how they are applied and why they tend to produce certain outcomes. It introduces the regulatory context set by Canada's Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places and the Ontario Heritage Act. It goes on to analyse Toronto's local policy in more detail including density bonusing programs, the Toronto Official Plan and Heritage Conservation District planning standards.

Toronto's heritage policy creates asymmetrical opportunities for heritage professionals and heritage specializing tradespeople. While the work that heritage professionals do is required or strongly encouraged by policy and increases reliably with the amount of funding secured for heritage projects, heritage tradespeople do not enjoy similar advantages. Their work is not required in the same way as heritage professionals' or encouraged to the same degree, and money secured for heritage projects does not necessarily go towards work that would engage the building trades necessary to maintain heritage structures.

The value of job creation in heritage trades is a mainstay of heritage economic advocacy, and there is growing interest in the value of these trades skills as a resource for sustainable building practices. There is relatively little research considering how heritage policy and theory affect career opportunities for workers with these trades skills, and none that addresses those systemic pressures in the context of municipal heritage programs in Canada.

Multiskilling refers to a labour utilization strategy in which workers learn multiple skills in one or more trades outside of their primary trade. Over 700 non‐union craft workers across the USA were surveyed as part of a research effort. The data collected show that a slight increase in the breadth of skills positively impacts a worker’s hourly wage, but only a weak relationship was found between multiskilling and more continuous employment.

This study identifies that bricklaying trade has not benefited much from off-site production, and bricklaying has been highlighted as a trade significantly affected by the documented skills shortage in Scotland with 66% of small and medium enterprises reporting difficulties in recruiting bricklayers.

This study used an interpretivistic philosophy adopting the phenomenological qualitative research approach using purposeful sampling technique and semi-structured interviews to allow for emergent themes to develop. The theory of proximal similarity that connects the study’s characteristics and the characteristics of the group under study was adopted.

Findings from the emergent themes identified issues grouped into key themes such as inconsistency of income, lack of care and self-employed workforce. The sub-themes included the Scottish climate, risk and profit, physical strain and government expectations and the cost of innovation. These were considered in relation to their existing and future implications for the industry.

A wider and more diverse group of industry participants from different parts of Scotland would have made the study more representative.

It is imperative that the Scottish construction industry supports, develops and trains future bricklayers capable of maintaining existing housing stock and to deliver on future construction projects in Scotland.

This study explores the shortage of skilled bricklayers within the Scottish construction sector.

This chapter builds up a simple general equilibrium trade model where, in the absence of a credit market for human capital formation, initial distribution of capital endowment and relevant factor prices determine the size of the three income classes. The poor, with little capital, invests in traditional manufacturing, the middle-income group invests solely in human capital and the rich invests in both. Chances are that such an economy will export both high- and low-skilled goods, importing the middle one. Conventional wisdom suggests that greater skill premium encourages skill formation. In contrast, we show that higher unskilled wage and lower degree of income inequality are consistent with greater skill formation. We also show that protection discourages skill formation and may aggravate inequality.

This paper explores the vocational training of construction workers in Guangdong Province of China and identifies its position in the global political-economic spectrum of skill formation.

The paper reviews construction vocational education and training (VET) of major political economies to develop a theoretical framework that guides an in-depth case study of Guangdong. Document analysis, field trip observations, meetings and semi-structured interviews were combined to explore the political-economic environment, political stakeholders and quality assurance mechanisms of industrial training in Guangdong's construction sector. The findings were compared with construction VET of other economies reported in the literature.

Construction training in Guangdong is deeply rooted in the local history and culture, under strong dominance of the state, while continually evolves to respond to the fluid market and therefore can be conceptualised as “market-in-state”. The political stakeholders are embedded within the state to ensure that skills policies are implemented in-line with industry policies. The differences between the training of Guangdong and its foreign counterparts are attributed to their divergent political-economic models.

As the case study was undertaken only with Guangdong, the generalisability of its findings can be improved through future research within a broader context of multiple provinces of China through both qualitative and quantitative research approaches.

Plausible foreign VET approaches are likely adaptable to the Chinese context only when conducive political-economic environment could be enabled. The findings are useful for developing countries to learn from the VET experience of industrialised economies. Construction workers' training in Guangdong can be improved by strengthening labour regulation at lower subcontracting levels and ensuring the presence of industrial associations and unions for collective training supervision.

The paper contributes to the field of construction engineering and management with a theoretical framework that guides empirical studies on the influence of the political-economic environment upon the ways political stakeholders develop and participate in construction VET. The exploration based on this framework revealed the position of the vocational training of construction workers in Guangdong in the global political-economic spectrum of skill formation.