Technology Adoption and Workforce Skill in U.S. Manufacturing Plants

Timothy Dunne and Kenneth R. Troske ()

No 1427, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

Abstract: This paper examines the relationship between technology adoption and workforce skill in US manufacturing plants. Using information on the use and adoption of seven different information technologies, we find that the relationship between technology adoption and workforce skill varies across the technologies. Technologies more closely related to engineering and design tasks are associated with more skilled workforces. Technologies more closely related to production activities are not. When we examine the relationship between technology adoption and skill upgrading of workforces, we find little correlation between the use and/or adoption of technologies and changes in workforce skill at the plant level. However, we do find that plants adopting technologies related to engineering and design tasks do grow faster over the period 1987-1997.

Keywords: technology adoption; workforce skill (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J2 O3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ino and nep-lab
Date: 2004-12
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