Globalization and Labor Markets in U.S. Component Manufacturing

In his presentation at Sloan Industry Studies Annual Meeting, Howard Wial discusses the forces affecting component sector labor markets—vertical disintegration of production within the U.S. and low-wage foreign competition. Component manufacturing is a manufacturing industry whose output is bought mostly by other manufacturers (and not the wholesale or retail sectors) and is not materials or capital goods. Component sector productivity growth has lagged behind that of other manufacturing since at least the late 1980s.

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