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On the Comparative Advantage of U.S. Manufacturing: Evidence from the Shale Gas Revolution

On the Comparative Advantage of U.S. Manufacturing: Evidence from the Shale Gas Revolution

259/2016 Rabah Arezki, Thiemo Fetzer and Frank Pisch
working papers,culture and development
Journal of International Economics
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jinteco.2017.03.002

259/2016 Rabah Arezki, Thiemo Fetzer and Frank Pisch

This paper provides the first empirical evidence of the newly found comparative advantage of the United States manufacturing sector following the so-called shale gas revolution. The revolution has led to (very) large and persistent differences in the price of natural gas between the United States and the rest of the world owing to the physics of natural gas. Results show that U.S. manufacturing exports have grown by about 6 percent on account of their energy intensity since the onset of the shale revolution. We also document that the U.S. shale revolution is operating both at the intensive and extensive margins.

Culture and Development

Journal of International Economics

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jinteco.2017.03.002