Technology and the Wage Structure [report]

Steven Allen
1996 unpublished
This paper reports direct evidence on how recent changes in technology are related to changes in wage gaps by schooling, experience, and gender. Wage gaps by schooling in the full-year 1979 and 1989 Current Population Surveys increased the most in industries with rising R&D intensity and accelerating growth in the capital-labor ratio. Estimates of the impact of hightech capital are mixed, with wage gaps increasing the most in industries that were high-techcapital intensive in 1979 and
more » ... in the industries with the greatest increase in high-techcapital intensity. Contrary to popular notions that technological change harms older workers, wage growth of experienced workers is much greater in R&D-intensive industries than in industries with little R&D activity. The gender gap narrowed more in industries that most intensively used high-tech capital in 1979, especially among younger women with a high school degree or some college.
doi:10.3386/w5534 fatcat:wbvyam6e7vdufixkqnvunt5le4