Do Technological Improvements in the Manufacturing Sector Raise or Lower Employment?

S-Tier
Journal: American Economic Review
Year: 2006
Volume: 96
Issue: 1
Pages: 352-368

Authors (2)

Yongsung Chang (not in RePEc) Jay H. Hong (Seoul National University)

Score contribution per author:

4.022 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

We find that technology's effect on employment varies greatly across manufacturing industries. Some industries exhibit a temporary reduction in employment in response to a permanent increase in TFP, whereas many more industries exhibit an employment increase in response to a permanent TFP shock. This raises serious questions about existing work that finds a labor productivity shock has a strong negative effect on employment. There are tantalizing and interesting differences between TFP and labor productivity. We argue that TFP is a more natural measure of technology because labor productivity reflects shifts in the input mix as well as in technology.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:aea:aecrev:v:96:y:2006:i:1:p:352-368
Journal Field
General
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-25