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Technical Change and the Demand for Skills by U.S. Industries

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Author Info
Howell, David R
Wolff, Edward N

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Abstract

Previous studies have explained the demand for skills, usually measured by schooling attainment, by either factor price substitution, capital-skill complementarity, or technology-skill complementarity. The authors explore this demand with direct job-based measures of cognitive (CS), interactive (IS), and motor (MS) skills in a single model that includes all three sets of possible determinants. The results raise doubts about the adequacy of schooling as a measure of skill and TFP growth as an index of technical change. The authors find little support for capital-skill complementarity; capital-intensity and its growth are significantly inversely related to CS and MS levels and growth. Technical change is unambiguously linked to increasing CS, rising professional/technical shares, and declining operative/laborer shares. The effects on MS and IS are mixed, but young capital increases craft shares, and computer-intensity decreases supervisory and clerical/service shares. Copyright 1992 by Oxford University Press.

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Publisher Info
Article provided by Oxford University Press in its journal Cambridge Journal of Economics.

Volume (Year): 16 (1992)
Issue (Month): 2 (June)
Pages: 127-46
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Handle: RePEc:oup:cambje:v:16:y:1992:i:2:p:127-46

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. David R. Howell & Edward N. Wolff, 1991. "Trends in the growth and distribution of skills in the U.S. workplace, 1960û1985," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, ILR Review, ILR School, Cornell University, vol. 44(3), pages 486-502, April.
  2. Edward C. Kokkelenberg & Donna R. Sockell, 1985. "Union membership in the United States, 1973û1981," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, ILR Review, ILR School, Cornell University, vol. 38(4), pages 497-543, July.
  3. Bartel, Ann P & Lichtenberg, Frank R, 1987. "The Comparative Advantage of Educated Workers in Implementing New Technology," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 69(1), pages 1-11, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Schultz, Theodore W, 1975. "The Value of the Ability to Deal with Disequilibria," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 13(3), pages 827-46, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Mincer, Jacob & Higuchi, Yoshio, 1988. "Wage structures and labor turnover in the United States and Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 2(2), pages 97-133, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Welch, F, 1970. "Education in Production," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 78(1), pages 35-59, Jan.-Feb.. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Gordon, David M, 1990. "Who Bosses Whom? The Intensity of Supervision and the Discipline of Labor," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(2), pages 28-32, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Hannes Leo, 2001. "European Skills Shortage in ICT and Policy Responses," WIFO Working Papers 163, WIFO. [Downloadable!]
  2. Vona, Francesco & Consoli, Davide, 2009. "Innovation, human capital and earning distribution: towards a dynamic life-cycle approach," MPRA Paper 13032, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  3. Maria Rosaria Carillo, 2000. "The Effects Of Professionalisation And The Demand For Social Status On The Adoption Of New Technologies," Working Papers 1_2000, D.E.S. (Department of Economic Studies), University of Naples "Parthenope", Italy. [Downloadable!]
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  4. Ziesemer,Thomas, 1998. "Creation and Destruction of Comparative Advantage by Public Investment in the Transport Infrastructure of Transit Economies and by Environmental Taxes," Research Memoranda 019, Maastricht : MERIT, Maastricht Economic Research Institute on Innovation and Technology. [Downloadable!]
  5. Ernst R. Berndt & Catherine J. Morrison & Larry S. Rosenblum, 1992. "High-Tech Capital Formation and Labor Composition in U.S. Manufacturing Industries: An Exploratory Analysis," NBER Working Papers 4010, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
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