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Which Workers Gain from Computer Use?

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Author Info
Sabrina Wulff Pabilonia () (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Cindy Zoghi () (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Abstract

Workers who use computers earn more than those who do not. Is this a productivity effect or merely selection? Using the Canadian Workplace and Employee Survey, we control for selection and find a wage premium of 3.8% for the average worker upon adopting a computer. This premium, however, obscures important differences in returns to computer adoption across education and occupation groups. We find that long-run returns to computer use are over 5% for most workers. Differences between short-run and long-run returns may suggest that workers share training costs through sacrificed wages.

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Paper provided by U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in its series Working Papers with number 373.

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Length: 40 pages
Date of creation: Jun 2004
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Handle: RePEc:bls:wpaper:ec040030

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Related research
Keywords: Computers; training; technological change;

Find related papers by JEL classification:
J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
O30 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Technological Change - - - General

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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. Timothy F. Bresnahan & Erik Brynjolfsson & Lorin M. Hitt, 2002. "Information Technology, Workplace Organization, And The Demand For Skilled Labor: Firm-Level Evidence," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 117(1), pages 339-376, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  2. Peter Dolton & Gerry Makepeace, 2004. "Computer Use and Earnings in Britain," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 114(494), pages C117-C129, 03. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  3. Entorf, Horst & Gollac, Michel & Kramarz, Francis, 1999. "New Technologies, Wages, and Worker Selection," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 17(3), pages 464-91, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  4. Entorf, Horst & Kramarz, Francis, 1997. "Does unmeasured ability explain the higher wages of new technology workers?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 41(8), pages 1489-1509, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. David H. Autor & Frank Levy & Richard Murnane, 2000. "Upstairs, Downstairs: Computer-Skill Complementarity and Computer-Labor Substitution on Two Floors of a Large Bank," NBER Working Papers 7890, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. DiNardo, John E & Pischke, Jorn-Steffen, 1997. "The Returns to Computer Use Revisited: Have Pencils Changed the Wage Structure Too?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 112(1), pages 291-303, February.
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  7. Doms, Mark & Dunne, Timothy & Troske, Kenneth R, 1997. "Workers, Wages, and Technology," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 112(1), pages 253-90, February.
  8. John P. Haisken-DeNew & Christoph M. Schmidt, 2000. "Money for Nothing and Your Chips for Free? The Anatomy of the PC Wage Differential," Econometric Society World Congress 2000 Contributed Papers 0859, Econometric Society. [Downloadable!]
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  9. Bresnahan, Timothy F, 1999. "Computerisation and Wage Dispersion: An Analytical Reinterpretation," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 109(456), pages F390-415, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  10. Petra E. Todd & Kenneth I. Wolpin, 2003. "On The Specification and Estimation of The Production Function for Cognitive Achievement," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 113(485), pages F3-F33, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Borghans,Lex & Weel,Bas,ter, 2003. "The Diffusion of Computers and the Distribution of Wages," Research Memoranda 003, Maastricht : ROA, Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market. [Downloadable!]
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Cited by:
(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. Zoghi, Cindy & Levenson, Alec & Gibbs, Michael, 2005. "Why Are Jobs Designed the Way They Are?," IZA Discussion Papers 1529, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Julie L. Hotchkiss & M. Melinda Pitts & John C. Robertson, 2006. "The push-pull effects of the information technology boom and bust: insight from matched employer-employee data," Working Paper 2006-01, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. [Downloadable!]
  3. Sabrina Wulff Pabilonia & Cindy Zoghi, 2005. "Returning to the Returns to Computer Use," Working Papers 377, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. [Downloadable!]
  4. Julie L. Hotchkiss & M. Melinda Pitts & John C. Robertson, 2005. "Earnings on the information technology roller coaster: insight from matched employer-employee data," Working Paper 2005-11, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
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