Skill‐Biased Technological Change and Wage Inequality: Evidence from a Plant Retooling1
Skill‐Biased Technological Change and Wage Inequality: Evidence from a Plant Retooling1
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技能偏向的技术变革和工资不平等：来自工厂重组的证据1
DOI：
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发表时间：
2001
影响因子：
4.4
通讯作者：
R. Fernandez
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
R. Fernandez
对20世纪70年代末以来工资不平等加剧的最流行解释之一是，技术变革导致对低技能工人的需求下降。据称，这一模式也是同一时期工资方面种族不平等加剧的原因。本文报告了一个食品加工厂的重组案例研究。一个独特的，纵向的，多方法的设计揭示了技术变革的性质，在工作要求的变化，以及机制的变化影响小时生产工人的工资分配。这项研究发现，事实上，重组导致了更大的工资分散，而且这些变化也与工资方面更大的种族不平等有关。然而，与技能偏见假设的主张相反，组织和人力资源因素强烈地介导了技术变化的影响。如果没有这些“大路”组织选择，这种对工资分配的影响将更加极端。
One of the most popular explanations for the increased wage inequality that has occurred since the late 1970s is that technological change has resulted in a downward shift in the demand for low‐skill workers. This pattern is also alleged to account for the growth in racial inequality in wages over the same period. This article reports on a case study of the retooling of a food processing plant. A unique, longitudinal, multimethod design reveals the nature of the technological change, the changes in job requirements, and the mechanisms by which the changes affect the wage distribution for hourly production workers. This research finds that, indeed, the retooling resulted in greater wage dispersion and that the changes have also been associated with greater racial inequality in wages. However, contrary to the claims of advocates of the skill‐bias hypothesis, organizational and human resources factors strongly mediated the impact of the changing technology. Absent these “high road” organizational choices, this impact on wage distribution would have been even more extreme.