abstract: 'The phased elimination of Multi Fibre Arrangements (MFA) for textile and

  apparel has been one of the most compelling trade policy reforms that

  removed a system of bilateral quotas. The reform brought in significant

  changes in the industrial structures for exporters from the south,

  including India. Has the labour-intensive high-employment textile and

  clothing industry in India benefited from this global move towards freer

  trade? For India, the industry has witnessed unprecedented market

  concentration of export-oriented firms. Firm-level empirical estimate

  illustrates that workers in the export-oriented firms in India are

  adversely affected due to withdrawal of quota. Accumulation of net fixed

  assets and growth of sales impart positive impact on firm-level wages

  that cannot outweigh negative impact due to fall in exports. We also

  find negative impact of profit on aggregate wage bill for the industry

  with firms spread over 11 major states in India. We show that the mean

  deviation of industry-level wage is positively and significantly

  associated with mean deviation of the number of factories at the state

  level and negatively with profit. Finally, a brief analytical exercise

  obtains conditions under which joint withdrawal of quota and import

  tariff could raise the aggregate labour income in developing countries,

  in general.'
affiliation: 'Kar, M (Corresponding Author), Womens Christian Coll, Kolkata, India.

  Kar, Mausumi, Womens Christian Coll, Kolkata, India.

  Kar, Saibal, Calcutta Univ, Dept Econ, Kolkata, India.

  Kar, Saibal, Inst Study Labor IZA, Bonn, Germany.'
author: Kar, Mausumi and Kar, Saibal
author_list:
- family: Kar
  given: Mausumi
- family: Kar
  given: Saibal
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1111/twec.12437
eissn: 1467-9701
files: []
issn: 0378-5920
journal: WORLD ECONOMY
keywords-plus: TRADE REFORMS; GLOBALIZATION; PERFORMANCE; INCOME
language: English
month: JUL
number: '7'
number-of-cited-references: '29'
orcid-numbers: Kar, Saibal/0000-0001-8134-1517
pages: 1473-1493
papis_id: ae6f62c25874cc288cef4a2a51d44c91
ref: Kar2017multifibre
researcherid-numbers: Kar, Saibal/AAC-8174-2019
times-cited: '0'
title: 'Multi Fibre Arrangement and Wage Inequality: Firm and State-level Evidence
  from India and a Theoretical Model'
type: article
unique-id: WOS:000405288600009
usage-count-last-180-days: '0'
usage-count-since-2013: '8'
volume: '40'
web-of-science-categories: Business, Finance; Economics; International Relations
year: '2017'