The Use of New Technology and Occupational Mobility: An Event History Analysis of the Swiss Labor Market
Year: 2004
Author: Franzen, Axel, Jann, Ben
Journal of Contextual Economics – Schmollers Jahrbuch, Vol. 124 (2004), Iss. 2 : pp. 257–282
Abstract
The investigation of the consequences of new technologies has a long standing tradition within economics. Particularly, labor economists are wondering how the introduction of new technologies, e.g. personal computers, have shaped labor markets. Former research has concentrated on the question of whether on-the-job use of PCs creates a wage bonus for employees. In this paper, we investigate whether the use of PCs increases employees' probability of an upward shift in their employment status and whether it reduces the risk of involuntary labor market exits. We do so by applying event history analysis to the Swiss Labor Market Survey, a random sample of 3028 respondents, and by analyzing a panel sub-sample of 650 respondents conducted recently in Switzerland. Our results show that on-the-job use of PCs was beneficial for employees in the past by increasing their probability of an upward shift by approximately 50%. The analysis also suggests that PC use reduces the risk and duration of unemployment. However, these latter results fail to reach statistical significance.
Journal Article Details
Publisher Name: Global Science Press
Language: Multiple languages
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3790/schm.124.2.257
Journal of Contextual Economics – Schmollers Jahrbuch, Vol. 124 (2004), Iss. 2 : pp. 257–282
Published online: 2004-02
AMS Subject Headings: Duncker & Humblot
Copyright: COPYRIGHT: © Global Science Press
Pages: 26