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Technology and the Demand for Skills

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  • Edward N. Wolff

    (The Jerome Levy Economics Institute)

Abstract

The U.S. economy has undergone major structural changes since 1950. First, there has been a gradual shift of employment from goods-producing industries to service-providing industries. Second, since the 1970s at least, the availability of new information-based technologies has made possible substantial adjustments in operations and organizational re- structuring of firms. This has been accelerated, in part, by sharply increasing competition from imports. Evidence from industry level case studies indicate that this restructuring is likely to have important consequences for the level and composition of skills required in the U.S. workplace (see Adler, 1986, and Zuboff, 1988). The direction and extent of changes in skill levels over the longer run has, however, been more uncertain, with case studies often finding a deskilling of the content of production jobs and aggregate studies finding little change or at most a gradual upgrading in overall occupation mix (see Spenner, 1988, for a survey of this literature). These trends have considerable policy significance since they help determine education and training needs. One important result of this paper, for example, is that a growing mismatch has been occurring between skill requirements of the workplace and educational attainment of the workforce, with the latter increasing much more rapidly than the former.

Suggested Citation

  • Edward N. Wolff, 1998. "Technology and the Demand for Skills," Macroeconomics 9810004, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  • Handle: RePEc:wpa:wuwpma:9810004
    Note: Type of Document - Acrobat PDF; prepared on IBM PC; to print on PostScript; pages: 44; figures: included
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Eli Berman & John Bound & Zvi Griliches, 1993. "Changes in the Demand for Skilled Labor within U.S. Manufacturing Industries: Evidence from the Annual Survey of Manufacturing," NBER Working Papers 4255, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. K. J. Arrow, 1971. "The Economic Implications of Learning by Doing," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: F. H. Hahn (ed.), Readings in the Theory of Growth, chapter 11, pages 131-149, Palgrave Macmillan.
    3. Bartel, Ann P & Lichtenberg, Frank R, 1987. "The Comparative Advantage of Educated Workers in Implementing New Technology," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 69(1), pages 1-11, February.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Edward N. Wolff, 2005. "Computerization and Rising Unemployment Duration," Eastern Economic Journal, Eastern Economic Association, vol. 31(4), pages 507-536, Fall.
    2. Piva, Mariacristina & Santarelli, Enrico & Vivarelli, Marco, 2005. "The skill bias effect of technological and organisational change: Evidence and policy implications," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 141-157, March.
    3. Pascal Petit & Luc Soete, 2002. "Is a Biased Technological Change Fuelling Dualism?," Chapters, in: Mark Setterfield (ed.), The Economics of Demand-Led Growth, chapter 15, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Edward N. Wolff, "undated". "Skills, Computerization, and Earnings in the Postwar U.S. Economy," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_331, Levy Economics Institute.
    5. Peter Skott, 2006. "Wage inequality and overeducation in a model with efficiency wages," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 39(1), pages 94-123, February.
    6. Skott, Peter & Auerbach, Paul, 2003. "Wage inequality and skill asymmetries," Economics Discussion Papers 2003-7, School of Economics, Kingston University London.
    7. Dolton, Peter & Silles, Mary, 2001. "Over education in the graduate labour market: some evidence from alumni data," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 19546, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    8. Paul Auerbach & Peter Skott, "undated". "Skill Asymmetries, Increasing Wage Inequality and Unemployment," Economics Working Papers 2000-18, Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University.
    9. Soete, Luc & Weel, Bas ter, 1999. "Innovation, Knowledge Creation and Technology Policy in Europe," Research Memorandum 001, Maastricht University, Maastricht Economic Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    10. Bruinshoofd, Allard & Weel, Bas ter, 1998. "Skill-biased technical change: On technology and wages in the Netherlands," Research Memorandum 021, Maastricht University, Maastricht Economic Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    11. Xavier Cuadras Morató & Xavier Mateos-Planas, 2006. "Wage Inequality and Unemployment with Overeducation," Working Papers 249, Barcelona School of Economics.
    12. Robert J. R. Elliott & Joanne Lindley, 2006. "Skill Specificity And Labour Mobility: Occupational And Sectoral Dimensions," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 74(3), pages 389-413, June.
    13. Anna V. Demianova & Sviatoslav I. Pokrovskii, 2022. "Level Of Digital Skills Of The Employed: Key Determinants," HSE Working papers WP BRP 125/STI/2022, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    14. Skott, Peter, 2005. "Fairness as a source of hysteresis in employment and relative wages," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 57(3), pages 305-331, July.
    15. Jorge Saba Arbache, 2001. "Trade Liberalisation and Labor Markets in Developing Countries: Theory and Evidence," Studies in Economics 0112, School of Economics, University of Kent.
    16. Spitz, Alexandra, 2003. "IT Capital, Job Content and Educational Attainment," ZEW Discussion Papers 03-04, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.

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