Research On The Impact Of Export Technology Content On Wage Gap In China's Manufacturing Industry

Over the past 40 years of reform and opening-up,China's total export volume of manufacturing industry has grown rapidly and gradually occupied a leading position in the world.Promoted by the upgrading of manufacturing technology and the continuous optimization of export structure,China's manufacturing industry has embarked on the transformation from a "big trading country" to a "strong trading country".However,behind the increasing export technology content,there are still unfair income distribution represented by wage gap,which has great potential social harm.Therefore,how to balance the contradiction between "technological progress" and "wage gap" is a realistic problem that must be solved in the development of China's manufacturing industry.In this context,this paper will empirically explore how the export technology content affects the wage gap in China's manufacturing industry,and put forward relevant suggestions.Firstly,based on the production process method,three measurement indicators of export technology content of 15 subdivided manufacturing industries from 2000 to 2014 are calculated:total technology content(V),which measures the total technology content of export products including domestic technology contribution and foreign imported intermediate technology contribution;domestic technology content(DV),which measures domestic technology contribution of export products;and domestic technology content.DVI,which measures the proportion of domestic technology content in total technology content,reflects the "technological dependence" of Chinese manufacturing production on imported intermediaries.On the basis of data calculation,the global ranking and evolution process of export technology content of China's manufacturing industry as a whole and its subdivisions are analyzed.Secondly,the relative wage levels of 15 subdivided manufacturing industries from 2000 to 2016 are calculated,and the wage gap between different industries is measured by the relative wage size and its changes.Finally,this paper constructs an empirical model of export technology content affecting wage gap,and analyses the effects of export technology content and domestic technology content index on wage gap from the perspectives of manufacturing industry as a whole,sub-sectors and factor-intensive industries respectively.The main conclusions are as follows:Firstly,the effect of total technology content and domestic technology content index on wage gap may be completely opposite.Regardless of whether trade openness and foreign direct investment are taken into account,the increase of domestic technology content index will widen the overall wage gap in manufacturing industry,while the effect of full technology content on the overall wage gap in manufacturing industry is the opposite.Therefore,when exploring the impact of domestic technological progress on the wage gap,we must use the domestic technology content index excluding foreign technological contributions to analyze.Secondly,the improvement of complete technology content and domestic technology content index has resulted in different skill-biased technological progress in different factor-intensive industries.Without considering the cross-item,for labor-and capital-intensive industries,the improvement of complete technology content will result in low-skill-biased technological progress,while the domestic technology content index will produce high-skill-biased technological progress;for technology-intensive industries,the improvement of complete technology content will result in high-skill-biased technological progress,while the improvement of domestic technology content index will result in high-skill-biased technological progress.High will result in low-skill-biased technological progress.The types of biased technological progress are related to the labor structure and industry characteristics of various industries.Thirdly,the effect of export technology content on wage gap in manufacturing industry is influenced by FDI and trade openness.Taking the overall wage gap of manufacturing industry as an example,with the increase of trade openness(XM),the "narrowing effect" of total technology content on the overall wage gap of manufacturing industry will be enhanced,while the "expanding effect"of domestic technology content index on the overall wage gap of manufacturing industry will be weakened with the increase of foreign direct investment(FDI).Fourthly,the root of the change of wage gap may lie in the different effects of export technology content on the relative wage level of different industries.The relative wage level of labor-intensive and capital-intensive industries changes inversely with the total technology content of exports,while the relative wage level of technology-intensive industries changes in the same direction with the total technology content of exports.Four suggestions are put forward in order to alleviate the "enlarged effect" of the wage gap in manufacturing industry that may arise in the process of technological development.Firstly,coordinate the policy of technological development and income distribution so as to combine them organically,so as to reduce the "enlarged effect" of domestic technological progress on the wage gap.Secondly,we should balance the technological progress of the industry,mitigate the impact of domestic technological upgrading on the wage gap,and optimize the income distribution.Thirdly,adjust the employment structure of manufacturing industry,balance the wage growth rate of high-skilled and low-skilled labor force,so as to improve the wage gap in manufacturing industry.Fourthly,we should rationally introduce foreign direct investment,optimize the opening of manufacturing trade and indirectly improve the wage gap.