Trade and Employment From Myths to Facts - International Labour ...

Region
Annualized percentage
change in real wages
(per employee)
Developed Economies 0.33 –0.51
East Asia and the Pacific* –1.56 3.87
Europe and Central Asia –2.88 4.35
Latin America and the Caribbean –1.27 –0.07
Middle East and North Africa –4.39 –0.42
South Asia –0.27 0.16
Sub -Saharan Africa** –3.55 –0.84
World 0.01 1.36
Income group
Chapter 2: New evidence on trade and employment: An overview
Table 2.4: Annualized changes in real wages and employment, by region and income
group (1980–2005)
Annualized percentage
change in real wages
(per employee)
High Income: OECD 0.49 –0.51
High Incom e: nonOECD 0.00 –0.46
Low Income –6.79 –0.56 ?
Lower Middle Income*** –4.18 2.67
Upper Middle Income**** –1.95 1.54
Annualized percentage
change in employment
Annualized percentage
change in employment
* The numbers are –2.02% and 5.80%, respectively, if China is excluded from the sample.
** The numbers are –9.40% and –1.34%, respectively,if South Africa and Mauritius are
excluded from the sample.
*** The numbers are –4.31% and –0.27%, respectively, if China is excluded from the sample.
**** The numbers are –2.20% and 1.68%, respectively, if South Africa is excluded from the sample.
? Excludes Viet Nam due to lack of data for the country before 2000. The 2000 –05 rate when
Viet Nam is included is 8.4%.
Source: Authors’ calculations based on UNIDO INDSTAT2 data. Time period covered is 1980-2005.
have experienced significant declines in the value of their currency. However, we
note that these trends are consistent with the findings of the World Bank (1995),
which showed a divergence in real wages between developed and developing regions
of the world. The report warned of a substantial risk that inequality between rich
and poor countries could grow over the coming decades. The numbers in table 2.4
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