Has ICT polarized skill demand? Evidence from eleven countries over 25 years

Michaels, Guy ORCID: 0000-0002-8796-4536, Natraj, Ashwini and Van Reenen, John ORCID: 0000-0001-9153-2907 (2014) Has ICT polarized skill demand? Evidence from eleven countries over 25 years. Review of Economics and Statistics, 96 (1). pp. 60-77. ISSN 0034-6535

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Abstract

We test the hypothesis that information and communication technologies (ICT) “polarize” labor markets, by increasing demand for the highly educated at the expense of the middle educated, with little effect on low-educated workers. Using data on the US, Japan, and nine European countries from 1980–2004, we find that industries with faster ICT growth shifted demand from middle educated workers to highly educated workers, consistent with ICT-based polarization. Trade openness is also associated with polarization, but this is not robust to controlling for R&D. Technologies account for up to a quarter of the growth in demand for highly educated workers.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	http://www.mitpressjournals.org/loi/rest
Additional Information:	© 2014 The President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Divisions:	Economics Centre for Economic Performance
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor H Social Sciences > HE Transportation and Communications Q Science > QA Mathematics > QA75 Electronic computers. Computer science
JEL classification:	J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J2 - Time Allocation, Work Behavior, and Employment Determination and Creation; Human Capital; Retirement > J24 - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity O - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Technological Change; Research and Development > O33 - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J2 - Time Allocation, Work Behavior, and Employment Determination and Creation; Human Capital; Retirement > J23 - Employment Determination; Job Creation; Demand for Labor; Self-Employment
Date Deposited:	15 Apr 2013 12:10
Last Modified:	12 Dec 2024 00:33
Funders:	Economic and Social Research Council through the Centre for Economic Performance
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/46830

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