Technology, computers, and wages: evidence from a developing economy

Christos Sakellariou and Harry Patrinos

No 3008, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: Increasing returns to schooling and rising inequality are well documented for industrial countries and for some developing countries. The growing demand for skills is associated with recent technological developments. The authors argue that computers in the workplace represent one manifestation of these changes. Research in the United States and industrial countries documents a premium for computer use. But there is recent evidence suggesting that computer skills by themselves do not command a wage premium. The authors review the literature and use data from a survey of higher education graduates in Vietnam. The results support the unobserved heterogeneity explanation for computer wage premiums. They suggest that computers may make the productive workers even more productive. However, given the scarcity of computers in low-income countries, an operational strategy of increasing computer availability and skills would seem to offer considerable hope for increasing the incomes of the poor.

Keywords: Information Technology; General Technology; Educational Technology and Distance Education; ICT Policy and Strategies; Teaching and Learning; ICT Policy and Strategies; General Technology; Educational Technology and Distance Education; Teaching and Learning; Primary Education (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2003-03-31
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev and nep-ino
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Journal Article: Technology, computers and wages: evidence from a developing economy (2004)
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