2 research outputs found
Technology and jobs: A systematic literature review
Does technological change destroy or create jobs? New technologies may
replace human workers, but can simultaneously create jobs if workers are needed
to use these technologies or if new economic activities emerge. Furthermore,
technology-driven productivity growth may increase disposable income,
stimulating a demand-induced expansion of employment. To synthesize the
existing knowledge on this question, we systematically review the empirical
literature on the past four decades of technological change and its impact on
employment, distinguishing between five broad technology categories (ICT,
Robots, Innovation, TFP-style, Other). Overall, we find across studies that the
labor-displacing effect of technology appears to be more than offset by
compensating mechanisms that create or reinstate labor. This holds for most
types of technology, suggesting that previous anxieties over widespread
technology-driven unemployment lack an empirical base, at least so far.
Nevertheless, low-skill, production, and manufacturing workers have been
adversely affected by technological change, and effective up- and reskilling
strategies should remain at the forefront of policy making along with targeted
social support systems
Are computers driving real wages down?
The annual growth in mean employee compensation plummeted from 2.6% in 1947-73 to 0.4% in 1973-2003. Using both time-series regression and pooled, cross-section, time-series regression analysis for 44 industries over the period 1953-2000, we find that earnings growth is positively related to overall productivity growth, capital investment excluding computers, and the unionization rate. We find also that computerization has a significant negative effect on earnings growth, but no evidence that the growth of skills or educational attainment has any statistically significant effect on earnings growth. The dominant factors explaining the slowdown in wage growth are decline in the unionization rate, slowdown in both TFP growth and overall capital investment, and acceleration in computer investment.Earnings Computerization Skills Education