The impact of office machinery, and computer capital on the demand for heterogeneous labour

Abstract

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. The Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in Bonn is a local and virtual international research center and a place of communication between science, politics and business. IZA is an independent, nonprofit limited liability company (Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung) supported by Deutsche Post World Net. The center is associated with the University of Bonn and offers a stimulating research environment through its research networks, research support, and visitors and doctoral programs. IZA engages in (i) original and internationally competitive research in all fields of labor economics, (ii) development of policy concepts, and (iii) dissemination of research results and concepts to the interested public. The current research program deals with (1) mobility and flexibility of labor, (2) internationalization of labor markets, (3) welfare state and labor market, (4) labor markets in transition countries, (5) the future of labor, (6) evaluation of labor market policies and projects and (7) general labor economics. Terms of use: Documents in D I S C U S S I O N P A P E R S E R I E SIZA Discussion Papers often represent preliminary work and are circulated to encourage discussion. Citation of such a paper should account for its provisional character. A revised version may be available on the IZA website (www.iza.org) or directly from the author. 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.

The Demand for Labor: An Analysis Using Matched Employer–Employee Data from the German LIAB. Will the High Unskilled Worker Own-Wage Elasticity Please Stand Up?

“…The study by Falk and Koebel (2004) in row 3 of the table points to clear substitutability between unskilled workers and the capital stock of office computers and equipment (OCM), albeit only for the non-manufacturing sector. For manufacturing, the authors also detect a positive impact of OCM on high-skilled worker demand, but no relation between OCM and the demand for the medium-skilled and unskilled.…”

“…Yet more ambiguous is the evidence pertaining to the wage elasticities of labor demand. Although FitzRoy and Funke (1998;row 5) conclude that the own-wage elasticity is largest for the unskilled, Falk and Koebel (2004; row 3) discern scant evidence that the own-wage elasticity decreases with skill. Other relevant studies here include Fitzenberger and Franz (1997), Falk and Koebel (2004;row 3), and Kölling and Schank (2003).…”

“…Although FitzRoy and Funke (1998;row 5) conclude that the own-wage elasticity is largest for the unskilled, Falk and Koebel (2004; row 3) discern scant evidence that the own-wage elasticity decreases with skill. Other relevant studies here include Fitzenberger and Franz (1997), Falk and Koebel (2004;row 3), and Kölling and Schank (2003). Fitzenberger and Franz in an analysis of industry-level data are able to confirm that the own-wage elasticity decreases with skill only in three out of six sectors in their sample, in a study that is notable for the wide range of estimates of the unskilled worker own wage elasticity.…”

Taxation and unemployment: an applied general equilibrium approach

“…Our main reference for elasticities of substitution in German production is Falk and Koebel (1997), who provide estimates for five aggregated sectors. Complementary information on factor price elasticities are taken from Buslei and Steiner (1999).…”

The impact of ICT on the demand for skilled labour: A cross-country comparison

“…For example, Autor et al (1998) show that in the US the growth of computer capital has a strong negative effect on the employment of high school graduates between 1979 and 1993. Falk and Koebel (2004) find that office machinery and computer capital have increased the demand for workers with medium skills in Germany, but to a lesser extent than the highly skilled.…”