Does Digitalization Widen Labor Income Inequality?

• 成果类型: Article; Early Access
• 署名作者: Huang, Jilei; Sun, Yi; Wang, Jian; Yang, Liyan
• 署名单位: Shandong University; Chinese Academy of Sciences; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, CAS; The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen; University of Toronto; Shandong University
• 刊物名称: INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC REVIEW
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0020-6598
• DOI: 10.1111/iere.70099
• 发表日期: 2026
• 关键词: technological-change; GROWTH; polarization; computers; DYNAMICS

摘要

We develop a growth model that endogenizes the occupational choice of workers with different ability levels to study how digitalization affects labor income inequality. The framework incorporates digitalization's multifaceted effects on the economy: (i) it influences economic growth through automation, and (ii) it affects labor income inequality through labor productivity (demand side) and labor time modulation (supply side). We examine how these channels influence wage inequality between skilled and unskilled workers, within each skill group, and economy-wide. The analysis reveals that digitalization's impact on labor income inequality-whether exacerbating or mitigating disparities-depends on the inequality metric employed.