People and Machines: A Look at the Evolving Relationship Between Capital and Skill In Manufacturing 1860-1930 Using Immigration Shocks
利用1860-1930年美国各县移民导致的技能结构变化，估计资本与技能之间的替代弹性，发现资本最初与低技能劳动互补性更强，1890年后转向与高技能劳动互补，这帮助制造业吸收了东欧和南欧移民潮，仅使低技能相对工资小幅下降。
Abstract This paper estimates the elasticity of substitution between capital and skill in manufacturing using immigration-induced variation in skill mix across U.S. counties between 1860 and 1930. We find that capital initially complemented both high- and low-skill labor (determined by literacy) and, unlike today, was more complementary with low-skill labor. Around 1890, capital increased its relative complementarity with high-skill labor. Simulations calibrated to our estimates imply the level of capital-skill complementarity after 1890 allowed the manufacturing sector to absorb the large wave of Eastern and Southern European immigrants with only a modest decline in less-skilled relative wages. This would not have been possible under the older production technology.