Manpower Aspects of Technical Progress

Abstract

A large number of topics could legitimately be included under the umbrella title of this article. However, the coverage inevitably reflects the writer's interests, and the paper thus examines the effects of technological change on employment, earnings, and the structure of labour markets. The article has four main sections. The first examines changes in the occupational structure of employment and discusses the structuralist hypothesis that technical progress shifts the occupational demand for labour in such a way as to create permanent unemployment. The second section looks at how technical progress has affected employment and earnings at the level of the industry. The third section takes up the notion of the dual labour market and discusses the extent to which innovation has been an important force generating divisions in the labour market. Finally the implications for government policy are examined.

Citation

Norris, W.K. (1976), "Manpower Aspects of Technical Progress", International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 3 No. 2, pp. 74-88. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb013793