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Should the Personal Computer Be Considered a Technological Revolution? Evidence from U.S. Metropolitan Areas

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  • Paul Beaudry
  • Mark Doms
  • Ethan Lewis

Abstract

The introduction and diffusion of personal computers are widely viewed as a technological revolution. Using U.S. metropolitan area-level panel data, this paper asks whether links between PC adoption, educational attainment, and the return to skill conform to a model of technological revolutions in which the speed and extent of adoption are endogenous. The model implies that cities will adjust differently to the arrival of a more skill-intensive means of production, with the returns to skill increasing most where skill is abundant and its return is low. We show that the cross-city data fit many of the predictions of the model during the period 1980-2000, the PC diffusion era.

Suggested Citation

  • Paul Beaudry & Mark Doms & Ethan Lewis, 2010. "Should the Personal Computer Be Considered a Technological Revolution? Evidence from U.S. Metropolitan Areas," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 118(5), pages 988-1036.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jpolec:doi:10.1086/658371
    DOI: 10.1086/658371
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    References listed on IDEAS

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