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

Timothy Dunne and Kenneth Troske

No 1427, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (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: workforce skill; technology adoption (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J2 O3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 32 pages
Date: 2004-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ino and nep-lab
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Published - published in: Scottish Journal of Political Economy, 2005, 52 (3), 387-405

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