TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION AND THE SKILL MIX OF US MANUFACTURING PLANTS

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Abstract
This paper examines the relationship between technology adoption and the skill mix of the workforce in US manufacturing plants. Using information on the use and adoption of seven different information technologies, we find that the relationship between technology adoption and workforce skill varies across the technologies. The use and adoption of engineering and design tasks are associated with workplaces that have a relatively large share of nonproduction labor. When we examine the relationship between technology adoption and skill upgrading of workforces, we find little correlation between the use and/or adoption of technologies and changes in workforce skill at the plant level. However, we do find that plants adopting technologies related to engineering and design tasks grow faster over the period 1987–1997.