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Cited by 1,767Labor market dynamics and wage inequalityHistorical Economic and Social StudiesEconomic Theory and Policy

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Technical Change, Inequality, and the Labor Market

Acemoglu, Daron·2002·Journal of Economic Literature
DOI 10.1257/jel.40.1.7
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Abstract

This essay discusses the effect of technical change on wage inequality. I argue that the behavior of wages and returns to schooling indicates that technical change has been skill-biased during the past sixty years. Furthermore, the recent increase in inequality is most likely due to an acceleration in skill bias. In contrast to twentieth century developments, most technical change during the nineteenth century appears to be skill-replacing. I suggest that this is because the increased supply of unskilled workers in the English cities made the introduction of these technologies profitable. On the other hand, the twentieth-century has been characterized by skill-biased technical change because the rapid increase in the supply of skilled workers has induced the development of skill-complementary technologies. The recent acceleration in skill bias is in turn likely to have been a response to the acceleration in the supply of skills during the past several decades.

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Metadata

Authors
Acemoglu, D.
Venue
Journal of Economic Literature
Publisher
American Economic Association
Published
2002-03
Volume
40
Issue
1
Pages
7-72
ISSN
0022-0515 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1257/jel.40.1.7
OpenAlex
W2106759695
Cited by
1,767
References
132
Citations by year
2026: 124 · 2025: 181 · 2024: 131 · 2023: 123 · 2022: 131 · 2021: 120 · 2020: 86 · 2019: 69 · 2018: 82 · 2017: 77 · 2016: 73 · 2015: 59 · 2014: 57 · 2013: 66 · 2012: 46
FWCI
65.44
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Journal of Economic Literature (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Labor market dynamics and wage inequality
  • Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Historical Economic and Social Studies
  • Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › General Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economic Theory and Policy
Keywords
skill-biased technological change, wage inequality, returns to education, labor supply, 19th-century industrialization, English cities, technological change

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