Immigration , Skill Mix , and the Choice of Technique
نویسندگان
چکیده
The degree of automation at U.S. manufacturing plants differs widely across metropolitan areas. This paper examines the effect skill mix in a metropolitan area has on the degree of automation at plants in the area. In markets with a higher relative availability of lessskilled labor, comparable plants – even plants in the same narrow (4-digit SIC) industries – use less automation. The results hold in first difference as well. This relationship is stronger when examining an arguably exogenous component of local less-skilled labor supply derived from historical regional settlement patterns of immigrants. These results suggest automation is skill complementary, and supports models in which production technique responds to factor mix. These models may explain why research has repeatedly found that immigration has little impact on relative wages in a local labor market. JEL: J2, F1, O3
منابع مشابه
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