Finance & Economics of Xinjiang ›› 2024, Issue (3): 5-15.doi: 10.16716/j.cnki.65-1030/f.2024.03.001

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How does the Development of the Digital Economy Affect the Skill Premium Gap—A Perspective of Biased Technological Progress

YANG Tianyu, HUANG Chongle   

  1. Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China
  • Received:2024-02-26 Online:2024-06-25 Published:2024-09-12

Abstract:

This paper takes biased technological progress as the starting point and proposes a theoretical hypothesis that the digital economy affects the skill premium gap through various types of biased technological progress. It uses data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) and related provincial panel data to empirically test the causal relationship and mechanism between the development of the digital economy and the skill premium gap. The results show that the development of the digital economy does indeed significantly expand the skill premium gap, and this conclusion remains valid after a series of robustness tests such as the use of instrumental variables and triple differences. The mechanism analysis indicates that the development of the digital economy primarily expands the skill wage premium by promoting capital-biased technological progress, skill-biased technological progress, and capital-skill complementarity. The heterogeneity analysis shows that in regions with more developed digital infrastructure and skill-intensive industries, the digital economy is more likely to widen the skill premium gap.

Key words: digital economy, biased technology change, capital-skill complementarity, skill premium

CLC Number: