Research Insights: Are Job Concerns a Factor in Supporting Trade?
Date issued
October 2025
Subject
Integration and Trade;
Trade Impact;
Equality;
Income Distribution;
Small Business;
Labor Force;
International Trade;
Subsidy;
Unemployment Rate;
Export Activity
JEL code
F13 - Trade Policy • International Trade Organizations;
D72 - Political Processes: Rent-Seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
Category
Catalogs and Brochures
The majority of Latin Americans are favorable to expanding trade with other countries, mainly based on perceived employment gains, and pro-trade messages further increase support for trade by 3.5 percentage points when the wording implies employment gains in exporter firms. Anti-trade messages reduce support for trade by 6.5-8.5 percentage points when indicating employment losses in import-competing firms and government compensation to affected workers. Trade framing effects are similar across the 18 countries studied and operate through changing beliefs about the employment consequences of trade rather than consumption consequences.
NO