Techies, Trade, and Skill-Biased Productivity

Farid Toubal, James Harrigan and Ariell Reshef

No 15815, CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers

Abstract: We study the impact of firm-level choices on ICT, R&D, exporting and importing on the evolution of productivity, its bias towards skilled workers, and implications for labor demand. We use a novel measure of firm-level R&D and ICT adoption: employment of “techies†who perform these tasks. We develop methodology for estimating nested-CES production functions and for measuring both Hicks-neutral and skill-augmenting technology differences at the firm level. Using administrative data on French firms we find that techies, exporting and importing raise skill-biased productivity. In contrast, only ICT techies raise Hicks-neutral productivity. On average, higher firm-level skill biased productivity hardly affects low-skill employment, even as it raises relative demand for skill, due to the cost-reducing effect. ICT accounts for large increases in aggregate demand for skill, mostly due to the effect on firm size, less so through within-firm changes. Exporting, importing, and R&D have smaller aggregate effects.

Keywords: Productivity; Skill bias; Skill augmenting; Labor demand; Outsourcing; Globalization; R&d; Ict; Techies; Stem skills (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D2 D24 F1 F16 F6 F66 J2 J23 J24 O52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-bec, nep-cwa, nep-eff, nep-ict, nep-int and nep-tid
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Techies, Trade, and Skill-Biased Productivity (2021)
Working Paper: Techies, Trade and Skill-Biased Productivity (2021)
Working Paper: Techies, Trade, and Skill-Biased Productivity (2021)
Working Paper: Techies, Trade and Skill-Biased Productivity (2021)
Working Paper: Techies, Trade, and Skill-Biased Productivity (2018)
Working Paper: Techies, Trade, and Skill-Biased Productivity (2018)
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