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Power, productivity and profits

Author

Listed:
  • Peter Skott

    (University of Massachusetts Amherst)

  • Frederick Guy

    (Birkbeck College)

Abstract

New information and communication technologies, we argue, have been 'power-biased': in many industries they have allowed firms to monitor workers more closely, thus reducing the power of these workers. An efficiency wage model shows that 'power-biased technical change' in this sense may generate rising inequality accompanied by an increase in both unemployment and work intensity. JEL Categories: J31, O33

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Skott & Frederick Guy, 2007. "Power, productivity and profits," UMASS Amherst Economics Working Papers 2007-02, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:ums:papers:2007-02
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    File URL: http://www.umass.edu/economics/publications/2007-02.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Immigration & wages: more evidence
      by chris dillow in Stumbling and Mumbling on 2008-11-03 23:42:02
    2. Bonuses, power and inequality
      by chris dillow in Stumbling and Mumbling on 2009-02-08 17:15:00
    3. Economics as Feynman's onion
      by chris dillow in Stumbling and Mumbling on 2009-07-05 15:14:27
    4. The tendency for the rate of profit to rise
      by chris dillow in Stumbling and Mumbling on 2010-04-07 17:48:41
    5. Miliband on immigration
      by chris dillow in Stumbling and Mumbling on 2010-09-29 18:05:08
    6. Profits & top incomes
      by chris dillow in Stumbling and Mumbling on 2010-10-31 14:47:10
    7. Class matters
      by chris dillow in Stumbling and Mumbling on 2011-05-18 17:43:32
    8. Inequality & power
      by chris dillow in Stumbling and Mumbling on 2011-05-20 22:33:31
    9. Looks & earnings
      by chris dillow in Stumbling and Mumbling on 2011-05-16 20:23:21
    10. Monetizability
      by chris dillow in Stumbling and Mumbling on 2011-07-28 18:53:23
    11. Debuncification
      by chris dillow in Stumbling and Mumbling on 2012-12-28 20:35:29
    12. Why is the middle squeezed?
      by chris dillow in Stumbling and Mumbling on 2013-03-27 19:18:02
    13. Efficiency wages for MPs?
      by chris dillow in Stumbling and Mumbling on 2014-04-10 19:01:23
    14. Ideologue? Moi?
      by chris in Stumbling and Mumbling on 2015-12-09 20:09:53
    15. Bad arguments against Marxism
      by chris in Stumbling and Mumbling on 2016-05-23 17:57:55

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    1. Jonathan F. Cogliano & Roberto Veneziani & Naoki Yoshihara, 2016. "The Dynamics of Exploitation and Class in Accumulation Economies," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 67(2), pages 242-290, May.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    power-biased technical change; efficiency wages; inequality; work intensity.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • 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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