Pathways to Adjustment: The Case of Information Technology Workers
John Bound, Breno Braga, Joseph M. Golden, Sarah Turner
American Economic Review · 2013 · Volume 103 · Issue 3
Abstract
One long-standing hypothesis about science and engineering labor markets is that the supply of highly skilled workers is likely to be inelastic in the short run. We consider the market for computer scientists and electrical engineers (IT workers) and the evolution of wages and employment through two periods of increased demand. Relative to the boom of the 1970s, the demand shock in the 1990s generated relatively greater changes in employment and smaller changes in wages. The growth in the pool of skilled workers abroad, combined with increased immigration in high-skill fields, is central to this story.
Keywords
Macroeconomics: Production, Time Allocation and Labor Supply, Human Capital, Skills, Occupational Choice, Labor Productivity, Professional Labor Markets, Occupational Licensing, Technological Change, Research and Development, Intellectual Property Rights: General
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