Skilled Labor-Augmenting Technical Progress in U. S. Manufacturing
利用美国制造业行业面板数据，考察技能劳动投入份额与全要素生产率增长的关系，发现1972至1981年间技能劳动增强型技术进步激增，这先于工资不平等加剧和相对工资快速上升时期。
This paper examines the role of skilled labor in the growth of total factor productivity. We use panel data from manufacturing industries within the United States to assess the extent to which productivity growth in yearly cross-sections of U.S. manufacturing industries is tied to industry shares of skilled labor inputs. We find evidence of an explosion in skilled-labor augmenting technological progress during the period from approximately 1972 to 1981, which precedes a period of suddenly increasing wage inequality and rapid growth in the relative wages of educated and experienced workers. We also provide evidence from aggregate manufacturing data that confirm this shift pre- and post-1972, and show that all of the findings are broadly consistent with the behavior of relative wages and employment.