The Review of Economics and Statistics Vol. 88 No. 3 2006
Technical Change and the Demand for Skills during the Second Industrial Revolution: Evidence from the Merchant Marine, 1891–1912
Abstract
Using a large, individual-level wage data set, we examine the impact of a major technological innovation—the steam engine—on the demand for skills in the merchant shipping industry. We find that the technical change created a new demand for engineers, a skilled occupation. It had a deskilling effect on production work—moderately skilled able-bodied seamen were replaced by unskilled engine room operatives. On the other hand, able-bodied seamen, carpenters, and mates employed on steam vessels earned a premium relative to their counterparts on sail vessels, and this appears partly related to skill.
- DOI
- 10.1162/rest.88.3.572
- Volume
- 88
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 572-578
- Language
- en
- Sources
- openalex crossref