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The multi-dimensional nature of labor demand and skill-biased technical change

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Author Info
Mellander, Erik () (IFAU - Office of Labour Market Policy Evaluation)
Abstract

Investigating the robustness of the skill-biased technical change hypothesis, this analysis incorporates two novel features. First, effective labor is modeled as the product of a quantity measure - number of employees with a given level of education - and a quality index, depending on, i.a., demographic characteristics and fields-of-study. Second, low-skilled labor is more disaggregated than in earlier studies. A fully specified structural model is used, containing demand equations for four categories of labor, two types of capital and intermediate goods. The empirical application covers 24 industries in the Swedish manufacturing sector 1985-1995. The skill-bias is further corroborated: it is confirmed although the specification of effective labor is supported. Substantial differences are, however, found among the low-skilled.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by IFAU - Institute for Labour Market Policy Evaluation in its series Working Paper Series with number 1999:9.

Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML (with abstract), plain text (with abstract), BibTeX, RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite), ReDIF
Length: 64 pages
Date of creation: 08 Dec 1999
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:1999_009

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Postal: Labour Market Policy Evaluation, P O Box 513, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden
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Related research
Keywords: Robustness test; Labor quality; Heterogenous low-skilled; Manufacturing application;

Find related papers by JEL classification:
D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior
J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
L60 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - General
O33 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Technological Change - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

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. Griliches, Zvi, 1969. "Capital-Skill Complementarity," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 51(4), pages 465-68, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Morrison, Catherine J, 1988. "Quasi-Fixed Inputs in U.S. and Japanese Manufacturing: A Generalized Leontief Restricted Cost Function Approach," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 70(2), pages 275-87, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Ottersten, Eugenia Kazamaki & Lindh, Thomas & Mellander, Erik, 1999. "Evaluating Firm Training, Effects on Performance and Labour Demand," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 6(7), pages 431-37, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. 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)
  5. van Ours, J. C. & Ridder, G., 1995. "Job matching and job competition: Are lower educated workers at the back of job queues?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(9), pages 1717-1731, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Morrison, C. J. & Berndt, E. R., 1981. "Short-run labor productivity in a dynamic model," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 339-365, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Stephen Machin & Annette Ryan & John Van Reenen, 1996. "Technology and changes in skill structure: Evidence from an international panel of industries," IFS Working Papers W96/06, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    Other versions:
  8. Paul, Catherine J Morrison & Siegel, Donald S, 2001. " The Impacts of Technology, Trade and Outsourcing on Employment and Labor Composition," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 103(2), pages 241-64, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Elias Dinopoulos & Paul Segerstrom, 1999. "A Schumpeterian Model of Protection and Relative Wages," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(3), pages 450-472, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Stephen Machin & A Ryan & John Van Reenen, 1996. "Technology and Changes in Skill Structure: Evidence from an International Panel of Industries," CEP Discussion Papers dp0297, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
  11. Nickell, Stephen & Bell, Brian, 1995. "The Collapse in Demand for the Unskilled and Unemployment across the OECD," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 11(1), pages 40-62, Spring.
  12. Stephen Machin & John Van Reenen, 1998. "Technology And Changes In Skill Structure: Evidence From Seven Oecd Countries," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 113(4), pages 1215-1244, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  13. Berman, Eli & Bound, John & Griliches, Zvi, 1994. "Changes in the Demand for Skilled Labor within U.S. Manufacturing: Evidence from the Annual Survey of Manufactures," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 109(2), pages 367-97, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Hansson, Pär, 1999. "Relative Demand for Skills in Swedish Manufacturing: Technology or Trade?," Working Paper Series 152, Trade Union Institute for Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
  15. Eli Berman & John Bound & Stephen Machin, 1998. "Implications Of Skill-Biased Technological Change: International Evidence," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 113(4), pages 1245-1279, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  16. Lindbeck, Assar & Snower, Dennis J., 1999. "Multi-Task Learning and the Reorganization of Work. From Tayloristic to Holistic Organization," IZA Discussion Papers 39, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  17. Hansson, Pär, 1996. "Trade, Technology and Changes in Employment of Skilled Labour in Swedish Manufacturing," Working Paper Series 131, Trade Union Institute for Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
Full references

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. Isacsson, Gunnar & Regnér, Håkan, 2007. "Changes during the 1990's in the location of Swedish Power Couples: Consequences and Explanations," Working Paper Series 1/2007, Swedish Institute for Social Research. [Downloadable!]
  2. Isacsson, Gunnar, 2005. "External effects of education on earnings: Swedish evidence using matched employee-establishment data," Working Paper Series 2005:10, IFAU - Institute for Labour Market Policy Evaluation. [Downloadable!]
  3. Lindquist, Matthew J., 2005. "Capital-Skill Complementarity and Inequality in Sweden," Working Paper Series 2/2005, Swedish Institute for Social Research. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Savvidou, Eleni, 2003. "The Relationship Between Skilled Labor and Technical Change," Working Paper Series 2003:27, Uppsala University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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