ABSTRACT

(forthcoming, 1996), "The Skill Bias of Technological Change in Canadian Manufacturing Industries", Review of Economics and Statistics.

The paper tests whether technological change has been neutral in Canadian manufacturing industries, using a system of translog cost share equations for 1962 through 1986. The model features two classes of labor treated as distinct inputs. Tests rejected homotheticity in all industries. Hicks-neutrality was also rejected in 16 of 18 industries. The most common pattern of non-neutral technical change was a bias away from blue-collar workers. Formal tests for skill-neutral innovation rejected the hypothesis in 10 industries in favor of skill-using technical change. The results suggest that in studies of Canadian manufacturing aggregation across labor inputs is inappropriate.