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Computers and the Gender Wage Differential

Author

Listed:
  • Linda Yuet-Yee Wong

    (Binghamton University and Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA))

Abstract

In this article, I report results of an exploratory data analysis that challenge the conventional wisdom on the relation between computer use and gender wage. Using the micro-economic data of 1984, 1993, and 2001, I find 1) the wage premium for females using computers at work is about 19-26 per cent higher than males within the high bluecollar sector, and 2) college-educated females who use computers at work earn a substantially higher wage than college-educated males. These results indicate that computers have re-structured work by deemphasizing physical skill that benefits women, and that college- educated women in the white-collar sector have unobserved female labor quality that could positively correlate with computer skill.

Suggested Citation

  • Linda Yuet-Yee Wong, 2008. "Computers and the Gender Wage Differential," Journal of Income Distribution, Ad libros publications inc., vol. 17(3-4), pages 93-114, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:jid:journl:y:2008:v:17:i:3-4:p:93-114
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    File URL: http://pi.library.yorku.ca/ojs/index.php/jid/article/viewFile/18131/16903
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    computer use; gender wage differential; occupation choice;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

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