Skill-biased technological change and the business cycle

Arbeitspapier

Over the past two decades, technological progress in the United States has been biased towards skilled labor. What does this imply for business cycles? We construct a quarterly skill premium from the CPS and use 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.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: Kiel Working Paper ; No. 1775

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity ; Business Fluctuations; Cycles ; Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity ; Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
• Subject: skill-biased technology ; skill premium ; VAR ; long-run restrictions ; capital-skill complementarity ; business cycle ; Technischer Fortschritt ; Qualifikation ; Konjunktur ; VAR-Modell ; USA

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Balleer, Almut ; Van Rens, Thijs
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW)
• (where): Kiel
• (when): 2012

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/58276
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:44 AM CET