What explains skill upgrading in less developed countries?

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Pavcnik, N
• 署名单位: Dartmouth College; National Bureau of Economic Research
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3878
• DOI: 10.1016/S0304-3878(03)00031-2
• 发表日期: 2003
• 页码: 311-328
• 关键词: skill upgrading; skill biased technology; technology transfers

摘要

Although many developing countries have experienced growing income inequality and an increase in the relative demand for skilled workers during the 1980s, the sources of this trend remain a puzzle. This paper examines whether investment and adoption of skill-biased technology have contributed to within-industry skill upgrading in Chilean plants. Using semiparametric and parametric approaches, I investigate whether plant-level measures of capital and investment, the use of imported materials, foreign technical assistance, and patented technology affect the relative demand for skilled workers. I find that some of the increased relative demand for skilled workers can be attributed to capital deepening. However, the relationship between skill upgrading and the three technology measures disappears once I control for unobserved plant characteristics. These results suggest that plant adoption of foreign technology is not associated with plant skill upgrading. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.