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The impact of ICT investments on the relative demand for high-medium-, and low-skilled workers: Industry versus country analysis

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  • Schneider, Dorothee

Abstract

In this paper I analyze the effects of information and communication technology (ICT) on compensation shares of high-, medium-, and low-skilled workers. Com- pared to other studies, I investigate this question using a considerably richer data set with respect to the length of time series, set of countries and industries, and information on ICT. Next to investigating the influence of ICT in 14 countries, I concentrate on the analysis in 23 separate industries. The results I find show that the skill-biased technological change hypothesis is rejected if single countries are analyzed with an industry panel, while I find that technological change is a cause of changes in the relative compensation shares in single industries. Here there is a positive influence of ICT on high-skilled workers' relative compensation for the time before 1995, while ICT investments drive the medium- and low-skilled com- pensation shares together for a substantial amount of industries, especially since 1995.

Suggested Citation

  • Schneider, Dorothee, 2010. "The impact of ICT investments on the relative demand for high-medium-, and low-skilled workers: Industry versus country analysis," SFB 649 Discussion Papers 2010-017, Humboldt University Berlin, Collaborative Research Center 649: Economic Risk.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:sfb649:sfb649dp2010-017
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Krzysztof Burnecki & Joanna Janczura & Rafal Weron, 2010. "Building Loss Models," HSC Research Reports HSC/10/03, Hugo Steinhaus Center, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology.
    2. repec:hum:wpaper:sfb649dp2010-048 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Jain Ritika, 2021. "Information and Communication Technology Adoption and the Demand for Female Labor: The Case of Indian Industry," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 21(2), pages 695-722, April.
    4. -, 2013. "The digital economy for structural change and equality," Libros y Documentos Institucionales, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), number 35954 edited by Eclac.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    ICT; Skill; Income Inequality; Labor Demand;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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