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Pathways of Technological Change: An Epidemiological Approach to Structural Unemployment in the U.S. Service Sector

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  • Jeffrey G. Woods

    (School of Business, University of Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN, USA)

Abstract

While technological change benefits the U.S. service sector and the economy as a whole, the creation, design and production of innovations may favor highly-skilled over less-skilled workers. If skill-biased technical change creates more job vacancies for skilled, relative to less-skilled workers, less-skilled workers are at greater risk of becoming structurally unemployed. An epidemiological model is developed that describes the pathways to, and prevention of, structural unemployment (SU) of less-skilled workers. Less-skilled workers must protect themselves from being “infected” by the diffusion of skill-biased technical change in the service sector. They must choose to become “vaccinated” with “injections” of human capital to reduce the probability of contracting the “disease” of (SU) and to avoid permanently working in de-skilled jobs. By making less-skilled workers more productive, one can simultaneously improve the distribution of education and training, health and income inequality while providing the government more tax revenue.

Suggested Citation

  • Jeffrey G. Woods, 2014. "Pathways of Technological Change: An Epidemiological Approach to Structural Unemployment in the U.S. Service Sector," International Journal of Social Ecology and Sustainable Development (IJSESD), IGI Global, vol. 5(1), pages 1-11, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:igg:jsesd0:v:5:y:2014:i:1:p:1-11
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    Cited by:

    1. Jeffrey G. Woods, 2017. "The Effect of Technological Change on the Task Structure of Jobs and the Capital-Labor Trade-Off in US Production," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 8(2), pages 739-757, June.

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