Skill-biased Technological Change, E-skills and Wage Inequality: Evidence from Tunisia

Aissaoui, Najeh and Ben Hassen, Lobna (2015): Skill-biased Technological Change, E-skills and Wage Inequality: Evidence from Tunisia. Published in: Journal of Economics Studies and Research , Vol. 2016, No. 2016 (31 August 2016): pp. 1-16.

Abstract

Although there is a plethora of literature that supports the existence of a technological bias in the US and Europe, exploring such a subject in the developing countries is still relevant and very little processed. This article is part of the perspective that involves examining and bringing additional insight to the phenomenon of the technological change skewed in the Tunisian context. Estimating a multinomial logit model directed to 902 employees generated very original results. First, these results confirm the existence of a technological bias in favour of skilled workers in the Tunisian labour market. However, it is no longer the access or the intensive use of ICT at work that privileges some employees and not others, in terms of pay, but rather the employees’ digital skills which contribute to rising inequality. Even more, it is the ability to get, select, process and evaluate information based on the specific needs and capacity to use it to achieve specific objectives, and not the simple manipulation of digital technologies and structures, that are at the core of the problem. Finally, the organizational change also contributes to the amplification of the existing wage disparities. Actually, the more independent the employee is in carrying out his tasks and works per project, the higher the probability of earning a high salary vs low and medium salary. However, several other types of organizations do not have any significant positive effect on the wage rise. This reflects a weakness in the labour organization in the Tunisian firms.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Skill-biased technological change (SBTC), wage inequality, organizational forms.
• Subjects: J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J3 - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs > J31 - Wage Level and Structure ; Wage Differentials; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O12 - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Innovation ; Research and Development ; Technological Change ; Intellectual Property Rights > O33 - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences ; Diffusion Processes

References

1. Acemoglu, 2001. Directed Technical Change. NBER Working Pape, Issue 8287.

2. Acemoglu, D., 1998. Why Do New Technologies Complement Skills? Directed Technical Change and Wage Inequality. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 113(4), pp. 1055-1089.

3. Acemoglu, D., 2007. Equilibrium bias of technology. Econometrica, 75(5), p. 1371–1409.

4. Aghion, P. & Williamson, J. C., 1998. Growth, Inequality and Globalization: Theory, History and Policy. New York and Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

5. Askenazy, P. & Gianella, C., 2000. Le paradoxe de la productivité: les changements organisationnels, facteur complémentaire à l’informatisation. Economie et Statistiques, Issue 339-340, pp.219-242.

6. Bartel, A. P. & Sicherman, N., 1997. Technological Change and Wages: An interIndustry analysis. NBER Working Paper, Issue 5941.

7. Bauer, T. K. & Bender, S., 2002. Technological Change, Organizational Change,. IZA Discussion Paper, Issue 570.

8. Benghozi, P.-J. & Cohendet, P., 1997. L'organisation de la Production et de la Décision face aux TIC. Dans: Rapport du Commissariat Général du Plan. s.l.:s.n.

9. Black, P., Harrison, C., Lee, C. & Marshall, B. a. W. D., 2003. Assessment for learningputting it into practice. Maidenhead, U.K.:Open university Press.

10.Black, S. E. & Lynch, L., 2001. How to compete: the impact of workplace practices and information technology on productivity. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 83(3), pp. 434-445.

11.Boughzala, M., 2013. Youth employment and economic transition in Tunisia". Global Economy and Development, Working Paper, Issue 57.

12.Bresnahan, T. F., Brynjolfsson, E. & Hitt, L. M., 2002. Information technology, workplace organization and the demand for skilled labor: firm-level evidence. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 117(1), pp.339-376.

13.Brotcorne, P. & Valenduc, G., 2009. Les compétences numériques et les inégalités dans les usages d’Internet.Comment réduire ces inégalités?. Les Cahiers du Numérique, 5(1), pp. 45-68.

14.Bué, J., Guignon, N., Hamon-Cholet, S. & L.Vinck, 2002. Vingt ans de conditions de travail". Données Sociales- La société française, INSEE.

15.Calavrezo, O. & Pelek, S., 2011. Qui sont les salariés payés au salaire minimum? Une analyse empirique à partir des données turques. Document de travail, Issue 139.

16.Card, D. & DiNardo, J. E., 2002. SkillBiased Technological Change and Rising Wage Inequality: Some Problems and Puzzles. Journal of Labor Economics, 20(4).

17.Caroli, E. & Reenen, J. V., 2001. Skill biased organizational change? Evidence from a panel of british and french establishments. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 116(4), pp. 1449-1492.

18.Chan, K., Zhou, X. & Pan, Z., 2014. The growth and inequality nexus: The case of China. International Review of Economics & Finance, 34(C), pp. 230-236.

19.Conte, A. & Vivarelli, M., 2007. Globalization and Employment: imported Skill Biased Technological Change in Developing Countries. IZA Discussion Paper, Issue 2797.

20.Crifo, P., 2003. La modélisation du changement organisationnel : déterminants et conséquences sur le marché du travail. Actualité Economique, 79(3), pp. 349-365.

21.Deursen, A. v. & Dijk, J. v., 2010. Measuring Internet Skills. International journal of human-computer interaction, 26(10), pp. 891-916.

22.Ghazali, M., 2009. Trade Openness and Wage Inequality Between Skilled and Unskilled Workers in Tunisia. Économie internationale, Issue 117, pp. 63-97.

23.Greenan, N., 1996. Progrès technique et changement organisationnel: leur impact sur l’emploi et les qualifications. Economie et Statistiques, Issue 298, pp. 35-44.

24.Greenan, N. & Walkowiak, E., 2005. Informatique, Organisation du travail et Interaction sociales. Economie et Statistiques, Issue 387.

25.Haan, J. d., 2003. IT and Social Inequality in the Netherlands. IT & Society, 1(4), pp. 27-45.

26.He, H. & Liu, Z., 2008. Ivestment-specific technogical change, skill accumulation, and wage inequality. Review of Economic Dynamics, 11(2), p. 314–334.

27.Henderson, D. J., Qian, J. & Wang, L., 2015. The inequality–growth plateau. Economics Letters, 128(C), pp. 17-20.

28.Howitt, P. W. & Mayer-Foulkes, D., 2002. R&D, Implementation and Stagnation: A Schumpeterian Theory of Convergence Clubs. NBER Working Paper Series, Issue 9104.

29.Iniguez-Montiel & Javier, A., 2014. Growth with Equity for the Development of Mexico: Poverty, Inequality, and Economic Growth (1992–2008). World Development, Volume 59, pp. 313-326.

30.International Monetary Fund, 2014. Redistribution, Inequality and Growth, s.l.: s.n.

31.Mincer, J. A., 1974. Schooling, Experience, and Earnings. New York: Columbia University Press for the National Bureau of Economic Research.

32.OCDE, 2014. Focus - Inégalités et croissance – décembre 2014, s.l.: s.n.

33.Quinet, A., 2000. Nouvelles technologies, nouvelle économie et nouvelles organisations. Économie et Statistique, Issue 339-340, pp. 3-14.

34.Saafi, S., 2012. Effets des Innovations Technologiques sur L'emploi Industriel: Essai D'analyse à Partir du Cas Tunisien, France: Université du Littoral-Lille Nord de France.

35.Winchester, N. & Greenaway, D., 2007. Rising wage inequality and capital skill complementarity. Journal of Policy Modeling, 29(1), p. 41–54.