Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/21401 
Year of Publication: 
2003
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 751
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
The large increase in computer use has raised the question whether people have to be taught computer skills before entering the labour market. Using data from the 1997 Skills Survey of the Employed British Workforce, we argue that neither the increase in computer use nor the fact that particularly higher skilled workers use a computer provides evidence that computer skills are valuable. We compare computer skills with writing and math skills and test whether wages vary with computer skills, given the specific use that is made of computers. The regression results show that while the ability to write documents and to carry out mathematical analyses yields significant labour-market returns, the ability to effectively use a computer has no substantial impact on wages. These estimates suggest that writing and math can be regarded as basic skills, but that the higher wages of computer users are unrelated to computer skills.
Subjects: 
wage differentials by skill
computer use and skill
JEL: 
J30
J31
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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