Abstract

DE LOMBAERDE, Philippe. COMERCIO, EMPLEO Y SALARIOS EN COLOMBIA: TEORÍA Y EVIDENCIA EMPÍRICA. Cuad. Econ. [online]. 2002, vol.21, n.36, pp.245-265. ISSN 0121-4772.

The author observes that the academic debate about trade liberalization in Colombia is too polarized and argues that a combination of theories and approaches is needed to analize the issue of trade liberalization and more emphasis in empirical research. From the analysis of the available evidence, the author reaches the following conclusions: i) it is the combination of trade liberalizing policies, on the one hand, and the tendencies in terms of technological change, on the other, that explain the behavior of trade, labor and production variables; ii) although certain trade flows respond to the (neo-)classical logic, the effects of trade liberalization, as a whole, cannot be fully understood by them; iii) as far as the formulation of alternative industrial and trade policies is concerned, these should be theoretically and empirically founded and should be accompanied by a detailed analysis of i ts economic and social costs and benefi ts and of its redistributive effects; iv) without any doubt, trade liberalization 'in Colombia contributed to the adverse evolution of employment and wages in the 90s.

Keywords : trade liberalization; employment; wages; trade theory; Colombia.

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