The possibility that economic competition puts working and employment conditions under pressure is a frequently voiced concern in debates on international trade. We provide an empirical assessment of the argument that competition for world markets has generated a race to the bottom in labor standards. Spatial econometrics is used to identify interdependence in labor practices among trade competitors. We present a strategy for measuring export competition between countries that fulfills several criteria: It reflects actual competition between firms offering similar products, rather than export similarity in relation to a few very broad product categories; it captures not only what competitor countries export but also how much; it takes into account that states are exposed to export competition to different degrees; and it focuses on the downward pressure stemming from a deterioration of labor rights protections among close competitors. To address endogeneity, we implement a two-stage least-squares (2SLS) instrumental variable approach and a difference two-stage generalized method of moments (GMM) approach. We find no evidence that export competition has triggered a race to the bottom in two samples covering most states in the world over nearly three decades. The finding is robust to a variety of alternative specifications.

中文翻译：

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全球贸易竞争真的导致了劳工标准的逐底竞争吗？

经济竞争给工作和就业条件带来压力的可能性是国际贸易辩论中经常提出的问题。我们对世界市场竞争导致劳工标准逐底竞争的论点进行了实证评估。空间计量经济学用于识别贸易竞争者之间劳动实践的相互依存关系。我们提出了一种衡量国家之间出口竞争的战略，该战略满足以下几个标准：它反映了提供类似产品的公司之间的实际竞争，而不是与少数非常广泛的产品类别相关的出口相似性；它不仅记录了竞争对手国家的出口量，还记录了出口量；它考虑到各国面临不同程度的出口竞争；它侧重于密切竞争者之间劳工权利保护恶化所带来的下行压力。为了解决内生性，我们实施了两阶段最小二乘法 (2SLS) 工具变量方法和差分两阶段广义矩量法 (GMM) 方法。我们没有发现任何证据表明出口竞争在近 30 年来涵盖世界上大多数州的两个样本中引发了逐底竞争。这一发现对各种替代规范都是稳健的。我们没有发现任何证据表明出口竞争在近 30 年来涵盖世界上大多数州的两个样本中引发了逐底竞争。这一发现对各种替代规范都是稳健的。我们没有发现任何证据表明出口竞争在近 30 年来涵盖世界上大多数州的两个样本中引发了逐底竞争。这一发现对各种替代规范都是稳健的。