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Computers, Fax Machines and Wages in Canada: What Really Matters?

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Author Info
Drolet, Marie
Morissette, René
Abstract

Controlling for observable worker attributes, we find that computer use is associated with a wage premium of at most 14%. Following Dinardo and Pischke (1997), we examine the wage premium associated with other tools used on the job. While these authors find a significant wage premium for the use of pencils or for sitting down while working, we find a substantial and robust wage premium for the use of a fax machine. Using a variety of reasonable specifications of wage equations including both a computer use indicator and a fax use indicator, we consistently find a stronger effect for fax machines than for computers. Along with Dinardo and Pischke (1997), we argue that workers who use computers earn more than other employees not because of their computing skills per se, but rather because they have more other unobserved skills - innate or learned through school - than other employees.

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File URL: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/bsolc/olc-cel/olc-cel?catno=11F0019M1998126&lang=eng
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Paper provided by Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch in its series Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series with number 1998126e.

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Date of creation: 27 Oct 1998
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Handle: RePEc:stc:stcp3e:1998126e

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Related research
Keywords: Labour; Wages; salaries and other earnings; Globalization and the labour market; Workplace organization; innovation; performance;

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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. Levy, Frank & Murnane, Richard J, 1992. "U.S. Earnings Levels and Earnings Inequality: A Review of Recent Trends and Proposed Explanations," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 30(3), pages 1333-81, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. repec:fth:prinin:377 is not listed on IDEAS
  3. Greenman, N. & Mairesse, J., 1996. "Computers and Productivity in France: Some Evidence," Monash Econometrics and Business Statistics Working Papers 15/96, Monash University, Department of Econometrics and Business Statistics.
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  4. Dunne, Timothy & Schmitz, James A, Jr, 1995. "Wages, Employment Structure and Employer Size-Wage Premia: Their Relationship to Advanced-Technology Usage at US Manufacturing Establishments," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 62(245), pages 89-107, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. 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)
  6. David H. Autor & Lawrence F. Katz & Alan B. Krueger, 1998. "Computing Inequality: Have Computers Changed The Labor Market?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 113(4), pages 1169-1213, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. Ann P. Bartel & Nachum Sicherman, 1997. "Technological Change and Wages: An Inter-Industry Analysis," NBER Working Papers 5941, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. 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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  9. 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.
  10. Richard B. Freeman & Karen Needels, 1991. "Skill Differentials in Canada in an Era of Rising Labor Market Inequality," NBER Working Papers 3827, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  11. Morissette, René, 1995. "Why Has Inequality in Weekly Earnings Increased in Canada?," Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series 1995080e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch. [Downloadable!]
  12. Steven G. Allen, 1996. "Technology and the Wage Structure," NBER Working Papers 5534, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  13. Baldwin, John R. & Gray, Tara & Johnson, Joanne, 1996. "Technology-induced Wage Premia in Canadian Manufacturing Plants During the 1980s," Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series 1996092e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch. [Downloadable!]
  14. John Bound & Alan B. Krueger, 1989. "The Extent of Measurement Error In Longitudinal Earnings Data: Do Two Wrongs Make A Right?," NBER Working Papers 2885, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  1. Sakellariou, Chris N. & Patrinos, Harry A., 2003. "Technology, computers, and wages : evidence from a developing economy," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3008, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
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