Publication
Jun 2012
Over the past two decades, technological progress in the United States has been biased towards skilled labor. What does this imply for business cycles? This paper constructs a quarterly skill premium from the CPS and uses it to identify skill-biased technology shocks in a VAR with long-run restrictions. Hours fall in response to skill-biased technology shocks, indicating that at least part of the technology-induced fall in total hours is due to a compositional shift in labor demand. Investment-specific technology shocks reduce the skill premium, indicating that capital and skill are not complementary in aggregate production.
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English (PDF, 48 pages, 349 KB) |
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Author | Almut Balleer, Thijs van Rens |
Series | Kiel Institute Working Papers |
Issue | 1775 |
Publisher | Kiel Institute for the World Economy |
Copyright | © 2012 Kiel Institute for the World Economy |