Technology Adoption and Wage Distribution in the U.S. Manufacturing Sector : Quantile Regression Analysis

Abstract

This paper examines the effect of technology adoption on the wage dispersion in the U.S. manufacturing sector using the quantile regression method. We obtain two main results. First during the period of 1970 to 1995, the marginal effect of capital intensity on wage has risen. Second, the marginal effect on high-wage quantiles has risen more than that on low-wage quantiles. These results suggest that (1) high-wage quantile have adopted technologies more actively than others and (2) highcaptial intensity industries have contributed to the widening of wage dispersion over the period.