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Title: Don't Blame the Robots: Assessing the Job Polarization Explanation of Growing Wage Inequality

Citation Type: Working Paper

Publication Year: 2013

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Abstract: Many economists contend that technology is the primary driver of the increase in wage inequality since the late 1970s, as technology-induced job skill requirements have outpaced the growing education levels of the workforce. The influential skill-biased technological change (SBTC) explanation claims that technology raises demand for educated workers, thus allowing them to command higher wageswhich in turn increases wage inequality. A more recent SBTC explanation focuses on computerizations role in increasing employment in both higher-wage and lower-wage occupations, resulting in job polarization. This paper contends that current SBTC modelssuch as the education-focused canonical model and the more recent tasks framework or job polarization approach mentioned abovedo not adequately account for key wage patterns (namely, rising wage inequality) over the last three decades.

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Authors: Shierholz, Heidi; Schmitt, John; Mishel, Lawrence

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Institution: Economics Policy Institute

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Publisher Location: Washington, DC

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Other

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