Information Technology, Workplace Organization, and the Demand for Skilled Labor: Firm-Level Evidence

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Penn collection
Operations, Information and Decisions Papers
Degree type
Discipline
Subject
Business Administration, Management, and Operations
Economics
Labor Economics
Other Business
Technology and Innovation
Funder
Grant number
License
Copyright date
Distributor
Related resources
Author
Bresnahan, Timothy F
Brynjolfsson, Erik
Hitt, Lorin M
Contributor
Abstract

We investigate the hypothesis that the combination of three related innovations—1) information technology (IT), 2) complementary workplace reorganization, and 3) new products and services—constitute a significant skill-biased technical change affecting labor demand in the United States. Using detailed firm-level data, we find evidence of complementarities among all three of these innovations in factor demand and productivity regressions. In addition, firms that adopt these innovations tend to use more skilled labor. The effects of IT on labor demand are greater when IT is combined with the particular organizational investments we identify, highlighting the importance of IT-enabled organizational change.

Advisor
Date Range for Data Collection (Start Date)
Date Range for Data Collection (End Date)
Digital Object Identifier
Series name and number
Publication date
2002-01-01
Journal title
The quarterly journal of economics
Volume number
Issue number
Publisher
Publisher DOI
Journal Issue
Comments
Recommended citation
Collection