Arbeitspapier

Does skill-biased technical change diffuse internationally?

This paper studies the question whether skill-biased technical change diffuses internationally and that way contributes to the increasing relative skill demand in other countries. So far, the role of skill-biased technology diffusion has hardly been studied empirically. Using new sectoral data for a panel of 40 emerging and developed countries, 30 industries (covering manufacturing and service industries) and 13 years (1995-2007), the analysis shows that skill-biased technology diffusion is statistically and economically important in explaining skill-biased technical change. Countries further away from the skill-specific technological frontier subsequently show higher skill-specific productivity growth. For that, the bilateral distance between two countries proves to be an important mediating factor, whereas intersectoral trade linkages, so far, explain only a small part of it. The main results hold for both, developed and emerging countries.

Language
Englisch

Bibliographic citation
Series: ZEW Discussion Papers ; No. 15-088

Classification
Wirtschaft
Trade and Labor Market Interactions
Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology
Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
Input-Output Models
Subject
skill-biased technical change
technology diffusion
distance
inputoutput linkages
industry-level data
emerging and developed countries

Event
Geistige Schöpfung
(who)
Schulte, Patrick
Event
Veröffentlichung
(who)
Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung (ZEW)
(where)
Mannheim
(when)
2015

Handle
URN
urn:nbn:de:bsz:180-madoc-405187
Last update
10.03.2025, 11:44 AM CET

Data provider

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Object type

  • Arbeitspapier

Associated

  • Schulte, Patrick
  • Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung (ZEW)

Time of origin

  • 2015

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