Labor Supply and Personal Computer Adoption

FRB of Philadelphia Working Paper No. 06-10

FRB of San Francisco Working Paper No. 2006-18

42 Pages Posted: 10 Jul 2006

See all articles by Mark E. Doms

Mark E. Doms

Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco

Ethan G. Lewis

Dartmouth College - Department of Economics

Date Written: June 3, 2006

Abstract

The positive correlations found between computer use and human capital are often interpreted as evidence that the adoption of computers have raised the relative demand for skilled labor, the widely touted skill-biased technological change hypothesis. However, several models argue the skill-intensity of technology is endogenously determined by the relative supply of skilled labor. We use instruments for the supply of human capital coupled with a rich dataset on computer usage by businesses to show that the supply of human capital is an important determinant of the adoption of personal computers. Our results suggest that great caution must be exercised in placing economic interpretations on the correlations often found between technology and human capital.

Keywords: Labor supply, Personal computer use

JEL Classification: J41, O33

Suggested Citation

Doms, Mark E. and Lewis, Ethan G., Labor Supply and Personal Computer Adoption (June 3, 2006). FRB of Philadelphia Working Paper No. 06-10, FRB of San Francisco Working Paper No. 2006-18, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=907106 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.907106

Mark E. Doms (Contact Author)

Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco ( email )

101 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
United States

Ethan G. Lewis

Dartmouth College - Department of Economics ( email )

Hanover, NH 03755
United States

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Downloads
213
Abstract Views
1,416
Rank
304,116
PlumX Metrics