The Impact of Office Machinery and Computer Capital on the Demand for Heterogeneous Labour

Martin Falk and Bertrand Koebel

No 873, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We study the impact of office and computing machinery (OCM) on the demands for workers with different educational levels. The empirical analysis relies on a system of demand equations that nests the translog, the generalised Leontief and the normalised quadratic specifications. Using panel data on 35 German industries, we find little evidence for a robust substitutability relationship between unskilled workers and OCM capital in manufacturing industries. In the non-manufacturing sector, however, we find some evidence for substitutability between OCM capital and unskilled workers.

Keywords: capital-skill complementarity; skill-biased technological change (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J23 O33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 23 pages
Date: 2003-09
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Published - published in: Labour Economics , 2004, 11 (1), 99-117

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Related works:
Journal Article: The impact of office machinery, and computer capital on the demand for heterogeneous labour (2004)
Working Paper: The impact of office machinery, and computer capital on the demand for heterogeneous labour (2004)
Working Paper: The impact of office machinery and computer capital on the demand for heterogeneous labor (2001)
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