资本积累、偏向型技术进步与异质性劳动力需求

Capital Accumulation,Skill-biased Technological Change,and Heterogeneous Labor Demand

本文利用2004年增值税转型的政策实施,采用准自然实验方法识别了企业资本积累与劳动力需求结构之间的因果关系。研究发现,增值税转型显著提高了中等技能劳动力的工资,而对高技能劳动力和低技能劳动力的工资没有显著影响。同一时期,高技能劳动力就业上升,中等技能劳动力就业保持不变,低技能劳动力就业显著下降。因而资本积累增加了对高技能劳动力和中等技能劳动力的需求,降低了对低技能劳动力的需求。由于企业增加了计算机等高技术附加型的设备进口使得资本积累对劳动力需求的影响产生异质性,增值税转型仅对不受融资约束限制的国有、集体企业影响显著。本文研究表明,在经济转型过程中,高技能、中等技能和低技能劳动力之间的收入差距将会进一步扩大,政府应重点提升他们的职业技能并制定合理的保障计划。

This paper uses the value-added tax reform in 2004 as a quasi-experimental setting to investigate how capital accumulation affects the structure of labor demand.Empirical result shows that the eligible medium-skilled workers experienced a significant wage increase associated with the reform,while wages for the eligible high-and low-skilled workers remained unchanged.In the same period,the employment of high-skilled workers increased,while the employment of medium-skilled workers unchanged and the employment of low-skilled decreased.Capital accumulation increases the demand for high-and medium-skilled workers,and it decreases the demand for low-skilled workers.Mechanism analysis shows that,the heterogeneous employment demand is primarily due to firm’s import of advanced technology capital like computers.However,this effect is only significant for state-owned firms that do not have financial constraint.Our finding suggests that the wage gap between high/medium-skilled labor and low-skilled labor will keep widening as the economy develops,and the government should provide more training programs and welfare projects for low-skilled labor.