Skill-Biased Technological Change and Rising Wage Inequality: Some Problems and Puzzles

David Card and John DiNardo

Journal of Labor Economics, 2002, vol. 20, issue 4, 733-783

Abstract: The recent rise in wage inequality is usually attributed to skill-biased technical change (SBTC), associated with new computer technologies. We review the evidence for this hypothesis, focusing on the implications of SBTC for overall wage inequality and for changes in wage differentials between groups. A key problem for the SBTC hypothesis is that wage inequality stabilized in the 1990s despite continuing advances in computer technology; SBTC also fails to explain the evolution of other dimensions of wage inequality, including the gender and racial wage gaps and the age gradient in the return to education.

Date: 2002
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (907)

Downloads: (external link)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/342055 main text (application/pdf)
Access to the online full text or PDF requires a subscription.

Related works:
Working Paper: Skill Biased Technological Change and Rising Wage Inequality: Some Problems and Puzzles (2002)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ucp:jlabec:v:20:y:2002:i:4:p:733-783

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Journal of Labor Economics from University of Chicago Press
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Journals Division ().