For the past two decades, and recently with the economic recession, the media has emphasized the decline of manufacturing in the United States and other developed countries. In the U.S., some initially blamed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) for this decline. Hearing that manufacturing is on the decline, one might reason that its…

Does academic research have a positive impact on productivity? To examine this question, the paper focuses on national Canadian manufacturing data, using a variable-cost CES-translog cost system. Changes in the elasticities calculated from the estimation results allow the study of the impact of the free-trade agreements on Canadian production and…

A study examined determinants of wages and productivity in Mexico from 1993 and 1999 using two national surveys. In 1993, 7,619 employees from 575 firms were interviewed. In 1999, 6,259 employees from 722 firms were interviewed. Findings indicate that wage premiums and productivity increased with years of schooling, but workers had higher benefits…

To assess the effectiveness of the Trade Adjustment Assistance and North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Transitional Adjustment Assistance programs, the General Accounting Office (GAO) reviewed available Department of Labor program data and surveyed 20 states representing about 76% of all workers certified under the two programs in fiscal…