The China Syndrome: Local Labor Market Effects of Import Competition in the United States

@article{Autor2012TheCS,
  title={The China Syndrome: Local Labor Market Effects of Import Competition in the United States},
  author={David Autor and David Dorn and Gordon H. Hanson},
  journal={Political Economy - Development: Domestic Development Strategies eJournal},
  year={2012}
}
We analyze the effect of rising Chinese import competition between 1990 and 2007 on U.S. local labor markets, exploiting cross-market variation in import exposure stemming from initial differences in industry specialization and instrumenting for U.S. imports using changes in Chinese imports by other high-income countries. Rising imports cause higher unemployment, lower labor force participation, and reduced wages in local labor markets that house import-competing manufacturing industries. In… 
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