Technical change and the wage structure during the second industrial revolution
Subtitle: evidence from the merchant marine, 1865-1912
By: Aimee Chin, Chinhui Juhn, Peter Thompson.
Contributors: Juhn, Chinhui, 1961-; Thompson, Peter, 1951-; National Bureau of Economic Research.
Series: NBER working paper series ;; working paper 10728; Working paper series (National Bureau of Economic Research : Online) ;; working paper no. 10728.
Publisher: National Bureau of Economic Research
Published: 2004
Place of publication: Cambridge, MA
Language: eng
Format: Electronic resource
Subjects: Merchant marine -- Economic aspects.; Steam-engines.
Description: "Using a large, individual-level wage data set, we examine the impact of a major technological innovation the steam engine on skill demand and the wage structure in the merchant shipping industry.  We find that the technical change created a new demand for skilled workers, the engineers, while destroying demand for workers with skills relevant only to sail.  It had a deskilling effect on production work able-bodied seamen (essentially, artisans) were replaced by unskilled engine room operatives.  On the other hand, mates and able-bodied seamen employed on steam earned a premium relative to their counterparts on sail.  A wholesale switch from sail to steam would increase the 90/10 wage ratio by 40%, with most of the rise in inequality coming from the creation of the engineer occupation"--National Bureau of Economic Research web site.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.
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Mode of access: World Wide Web.