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Taking technology to task: The skill content of technological change in early twentieth century United States

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  • Gray, Rowena

Abstract

This paper uses new data on the task content of occupations to present a new picture of the labor market effects of technological change in pre-WWII United States. I show that, similar to the recent computerization episode, the electrification of the manufacturing sector led to a “hollowing out” of the skill distribution whereby workers in the middle of the distribution lost out to those at the extremes. OLS estimates show that electrification increased the demand for clerical, numerical, planning and people skills relative to manual skills while simultaneously reducing relative demand for the dexterity-intensive jobs which comprised the middle of the skill distribution. Thus, early twentieth century technological change was unskill-biased for blue collar tasks but skill-biased on aggregate. These results are in line with the downward trend in wage differentials within U.S. manufacturing up to 1950.

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  • Gray, Rowena, 2013. "Taking technology to task: The skill content of technological change in early twentieth century United States," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 50(3), pages 351-367.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:exehis:v:50:y:2013:i:3:p:351-367
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eeh.2013.04.002
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    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Electrification, skills and manufacturing
      by Chris Colvin in NEP-HIS blog on 2012-01-29 00:15:01

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    3. Leticia Arroyo Abad & Noel Maurer & Blanca Sánchez‐Alonso, 2021. "Paesani versus paisanos: the relative failure of Spanish immigrants in Buenos Aires during the age of mass migration," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 74(2), pages 546-567, May.
    4. Xie, Bin, 2017. "The Effects of Immigration Quotas on Wages, the Great Black Migration, and Industrial Development," IZA Discussion Papers 11214, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Davide Consoli & Francesco Vona & Francesco Rentocchini, 2016. "That was then, this is now: skills and routinization in the 2000s," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 25(5), pages 847-866.
    6. Jeanne Lafortune & Ethan Lewis & José Tessada, 2019. "People and Machines: A Look at the Evolving Relationship between Capital and Skill in Manufacturing, 1860–1930, Using Immigration Shocks," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 101(1), pages 30-43, March.
    7. Jeremy Atack & Robert A. Margo & Paul W. Rhode, 2024. "Wage Inequality in American Manufacturing, 1820–1940: New Evidence," NBER Chapters, in: The Economic History of American Inequality: New Evidence and Perspectives, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Gaggl, Paul & Gray, Rowena & Marinescu, Ioana & Morin, Miguel, 2021. "Does electricity drive structural transformation? Evidence from the United States," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    9. Jeremy Atack & Robert A. Margo & Paul W. Rhode, 2019. ""Automation" of Manufacturing in the Late Nineteenth Century: The Hand and Machine Labor Study," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 33(2), pages 51-70, Spring.
    10. Joonmo Cho & Jinha Kim, 2018. "Identifying Factors Reinforcing Robotization: Interactive Forces of Employment, Working Hour and Wage," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-21, February.
    11. Vona, Francesco, 2023. "Skills and human capital for the low-carbon transition in developing and emerging economies," FEEM Working Papers 338778, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    12. Graetz, Georg & Feng, Andy, 2014. "Rise of the Machines: The Effects of Labor-Saving Innovations on Jobs and Wages," VfS Annual Conference 2014 (Hamburg): Evidence-based Economic Policy 100401, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    13. Guy Michaels & Ferdinand Rauch & Stephen J Redding, 2019. "Task Specialization in U.S. Cities from 1880 to 2000," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 17(3), pages 754-798.
    14. Francesco Vona, 2023. "Skills and human capital for the low-carbon transition in developing and emerging economies," Working Papers 2023.19, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    15. Miguel Morin, 2015. "The Labor Market Consequences of Electricity Adoption: Concrete Evidence from the Great Depression," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 1554, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    16. Zachary Ward, 2016. "The Role of English Fluency in Migrant Assimilation: Evidence from United States History," CEH Discussion Papers 049, Centre for Economic History, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
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    18. Consoli, Davide & Marin, Giovanni & Marzucchi, Alberto & Vona, Francesco, 2016. "Do green jobs differ from non-green jobs in terms of skills and human capital?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(5), pages 1046-1060.
    19. Frey, Carl Benedikt & Osborne, Michael A., 2017. "The future of employment: How susceptible are jobs to computerisation?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 254-280.
    20. Stefan Leknes & Jørgen Modalsli, 2018. "Who benefited from industrialization? The local effects of hydropower technology adoption," Discussion Papers 874, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    21. Aránzazu Guillán Montero & David Le Blanc, 2019. "Lessons for Today from Past Periods of Rapid Technological Change," Working Papers 158, United Nations, Department of Economics and Social Affairs.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Technological change; Skill bias; Electrification;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • N32 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - U.S.; Canada: 1913-
    • N33 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Europe: Pre-1913

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