Topic：Import Competition and Workplace Safety in U.S. Manufacturing Industries

Speaker：Dr. WU Jiahao，Chinese University of Hong Kong

Time：15:30-17:00，May18，2018

Site：B228

Abstract：How would import competition from the developing world affect workplace safety in a developed country? We address this question by testing if there is a causal relationship between Chinese import competition and the U.S workplace injuries and illnesses. U.S. workplaces are much safer than they were a quarter of a century ago. While both the manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors have improved, the improvement of the manufacturing sector is significantly more impressive. The surge of Chinese manufacturing imports may explain such a difference. Our empirical results show that Chinese manufacturing imports reduce both industry- and regional-level injury rates. Chinese manufacturing imports likely reduce injury rates through reducing the employment shares of more dangerous occupations and increasing those of the safer occupations.

Introduction to the Speaker：Travis Ng is an associate professor of economics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He holds a PhD from the University of Toronto. He specializes in industrial organization. His recent interest is on the effects of trade on workplace safety. He has published in the Review of Economics and Statistics, Canadian Journal of Economics, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Journal of Comparative Economics, Journal of Economic Psychology, Journal of Corporate Finance, and Journal of Economics and Management Strategy.