Technological Change and the Skill Acquisition of Young Workers

Since technological change influences the rate at which human capital obsolesces and also increases the uncertainty associated with human capital investments, training may increase or decrease at higher rates of technological change. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, we find that production workers in manufacturing industries with higher rates of technological change are more likely to receive formal company training. At higher rates of technological change, the training gap between the more and less educated narrows, low-skilled nonproduction workers receive significantly more training than higher-skilled nonproduction workers, and the proportion of individuals receiving training increases.