Skill-Biased Technological Change: Evidence from a Firm-Level Survey Skill-Biased Technological Change: Evidence from a Firm-Level Survey
Donald S. Siegel
First Chapter | Table of Contents

139 pp. 1999
$40.00 cloth 978-0-88099-198-8
$13.00 paper 978-0-88099-197-1

Siegel provides evidence that technology adoption is associated with downsizing, skill upgrading, greater employee empowerment, and a widening wage gap. Unlike previous studies that use industry-level data, Siegel collected firm-level data on technology usage and labor composition which enable him to link the magnitude of labor market outcomes for six classes of workers to the types of technologies implemented.

Specifically, Siegel examined 12 advance manufacturing technologies (AMTs), some of which were CAD/CAM systems, robotics, and just-in-time inventory systems, that were implemented by the employers surveyed. He also gathered information on Human Resource Management (HRM) strategies that accompanied the AMT installations.

These data allowed him to
  • directly examine the labor market implications associated with the implementation of new manufacturing technologies,
  • explore whether changes in HRM policies that enhance employee empowerment arise following technological change, and
  • conduct a dissagregated analysis across the two broad classes of advanced manufacturing technologies, linked and integrated.