Skills Distribution, Migration and Wage Differences in Pure Service-Exchange Economy

Abstract

This paper considers an economy with skilled agents exchanging their services. Using Cobb-Douglas preferences, the paper shows that there exists an optimal (average welfare maximizing) skills' distribution. This optimal distribution is independent of productivity and is welfare equalizing. If the skill-distribution is not optimal, then some agents are better-off than others. In such a scenario, migration in some sectors is average-welfare improving while inviting skilled-agents in others reduces average welfare. "Productivity increase of worse-o sector" without changing the overall skills' composition of economy increases the wage gap.

JEL Classification: F22, L84, J31, J24, D51