Skill obsolescence and wage inequality within education groups

Abstract

Technological progress renders various skills obsolete, however, the rate of skill obsolescence will vary according to the worker's human capital investments. Workers heavily invested in general skills, such as education, will not suffer high rates of obsolescence, while less-educated workers who invest more in “technology-specific” skills will suffer more when the technology is changed. Consistent with this framework, this chapter demonstrates that increasing randomness is the primary source of inequality growth within uneducated workers, whereas inequality growth within educated workers is determined more by predictable factors. Furthermore, this chapter shows that increasing randomness generates a “precautionary” demand for education.

Citation

Gould, E.D., Moav, O. and Weinberg, B.A. (2002), "Skill obsolescence and wage inequality within education groups", de Grip, A., van Loo, J. and Mayhew, K. (Ed.) The Economics of Skills Obsolescence (Research in Labor Economics, Vol. 21), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 215-234. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0147-9121(02)21012-2