Globalisation, Technology and Wage Inequality, 1870-1970

The aim of the originating project was to increase understanding of the past and possible future impact of increased international trade, mobility and investment on:<br> <br> i) Differences in income levels between countries (divergence or convergence, and - if convergence - levelling up or levelling down)<br> ii) The relative and real wages of different sorts of 'skilled' workers<br> <br> This aim was addressed in four main ways. The first was to formalise ideas about the disaggregation of skilled workers, and the overlap between the concepts of skill and technology, by theoretical modelling. The second was to test hypotheses suggested by theory on evidence for all countries over the past 30 years. The third was to test hypotheses suggested by theory on evidence for skilled wages in developed countries over the past 30 years. The final way the objective was addressed was by testing the hypotheses suggested by theory against evidence from developed countries over the past two centuries. The data collection is the result of the data gathering exercise undertaken for this fourth approach.