Working Paper: NBER ID: w22346
Authors: Timothy Bresnahan; Pailing Yin
Abstract: The invention of new applications based on information and communications technologies (ICTs) has had two economic effects up to now. These applications have transformed production, creating value for applications-inventing companies and their customers and increasing economic growth through quality improvements. The same applications have shifted the relative demand for different kinds of labor, raising the demand for already highly-compensated managers and professionals relative to other workers. This paper considers the likely impact of new ICT technologies coming into application in the workplace today in light of the economic and technical forces behind ICT application up to now.
Keywords: Information and Communications Technologies; Labor Demand; Income Inequality; Economic Growth
JEL Codes: O3
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| ICT adoption (O33) | production transformation (E23) |
| production transformation (E23) | economic growth (O49) |
| ICT adoption (O33) | changes in labor demand dynamics (J29) |
| ICT adoption (O33) | demand for skilled labor (J24) |
| organizational change (L29) | demand for workers with organizational participation skills (J29) |
| ICT coinvention (O36) | demand for skilled labor (J24) |
| ICT adoption (O33) | income inequality (D31) |