DP881 Getting a Fair Share of the Plunder? Technology, Skill and Wages in British Establishments

Author(s):	John Van Reenen
Publication Date:	January 1994
Keyword(s):	Bargaining, Inequality, New Technology, Wages, WIRS
JEL(s):	J31
Programme Areas:	Human Resources
Link to this Page:	cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=881

This paper uses establishment level data from the British Workplace Industrial Relations Survey (WIRS) to examine the effects of new technology on pay. The wage differential associated with new technology is about 5-7% and is (i) robust to corrections for skill, workplace disamenities, and simultaneity; (ii) higher for skilled workers than those with less human capital; (iii) strongest where unions are recognized, but where union density is under 100%.