[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/smu/ecowpa/710.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

India’s Increasing Skill Premium: Role of Demand and Supply

Author

Listed:
  • Mehtabul Azam

    (SMU)

Abstract
The tertiary (college)-secondary (high school) wage premium has been increasing in India over the past decade, but this increase differs across age groups. The increase in wage premium has been driven mostly by younger age groups, while older age groups have not experienced any significant increase. This paper uses the demand and supply model with imperfect substitution across age groups developed by Card and Lemieux (2001) to explain the uneven increase in the wage premium across age groups in India. The findings of this paper are that the increase in the wage premium has come mostly from demand shifts in favor of workers with a tertiary education. More importantly, the demand shifts occurred in both the 1980s and 1990s. The relative supply has played an important role not only determining the extent of increase in wage premium, but also its timing. The increase in relative supply of tertiary workers during 1983-1993 negated the demand shift; as a result, the wage premium did not increase much. But during 1993-1999, the growth rate of the relative supply of tertiary workers decelerated, while relative supply became virtually stagnant during 1999-2004. Both these periods saw an increase in the wage premium as the countervailing supply shift was weak.

Suggested Citation

  • Mehtabul Azam, 2007. "India’s Increasing Skill Premium: Role of Demand and Supply," Departmental Working Papers 0710, Southern Methodist University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:smu:ecowpa:710
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ftp1.economics.smu.edu/WorkingPapers/2007/Azam/col_premium.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chamarbagwala, Rubiana, 2006. "Economic Liberalization and Wage Inequality in India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 34(12), pages 1997-2015, December.
    2. Jorge Saba Arbache & Andy Dickerson & Francis Green, 2004. "Trade Liberalisation and Wages in Developing Countries," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 114(493), pages 73-96, February.
    3. Lawrence F. Katz & Kevin M. Murphy, 1992. "Changes in Relative Wages, 1963–1987: Supply and Demand Factors," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 107(1), pages 35-78.
    4. David Card & Thomas Lemieux, 2001. "Can Falling Supply Explain the Rising Return to College for Younger Men? A Cohort-Based Analysis," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 116(2), pages 705-746.
    5. Katz, Lawrence F. & Autor, David H., 1999. "Changes in the wage structure and earnings inequality," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 26, pages 1463-1555, Elsevier.
    6. Sumon Kumar Bhaumik & Manisha Chakrabarty, 2007. "Is Education the Panacea for Economic Deprivation of Muslims? Evidence from Wage Earners in India, 1987-2004," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series wp858, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    7. Beyer, Harald & Rojas, Patricio & Vergara, Rodrigo, 1999. "Trade liberalization and wage inequality," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(1), pages 103-123, June.
    8. Angus Deaton, 2003. "Adjusted Indian Poverty Estimates for 1999-2000," Working Papers 200, Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Research Program in Development Studies..
    9. repec:pru:wpaper:29 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Angus Deaton and Jean Drèze & Jean Drèze, 2002. "Poverty and Inequality in India: A Reexamination," Working papers 107, Centre for Development Economics, Delhi School of Economics.
    11. Robbins, Donald J., 1996. "Hos Hits Facts: Facts Win Evidence On Trade And Wages In The Developing World," Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID) Papers 294374, Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government.
    12. Arvind Panagariya, 2004. "India in the 1980s and 1990s: A Triumph of Reforms:," International Trade 0403005, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. repec:bla:rdevec:v:3:y:1999:i:2:p:140-54 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Angrist, Joshua D, 1996. "Short-Run Demand for Palestinian Labor," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 14(3), pages 425-453, July.
    15. repec:pri:rpdevs:deaton_adjusted_poverty_india is not listed on IDEAS
    16. James Heckman & Lance Lochner & Christopher Taber, 1998. "Explaining Rising Wage Inequality: Explanations With A Dynamic General Equilibrium Model of Labor Earnings With Heterogeneous Agents," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 1(1), pages 1-58, January.
    17. Marco Manacorda & Carolina Sanchez-Paramo & Norbert Schady, 2010. "Changes in Returns to Education in Latin America: The Role of Demand and Supply of Skills," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 63(2), pages 307-326, January.
    18. Kijima, Yoko, 2006. "Why did wage inequality increase? Evidence from urban India 1983-99," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(1), pages 97-117, October.
    19. George E. Johnson, 1997. "Changes in Earnings Inequality: The Role of Demand Shifts," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 11(2), pages 41-54, Spring.
    20. Juhn, Chinhui & Murphy, Kevin M & Pierce, Brooks, 1993. "Wage Inequality and the Rise in Returns to Skill," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(3), pages 410-442, June.
    21. Pavcnik, Nina, 2003. "What explains skill upgrading in less developed countries?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(2), pages 311-328, August.
    22. Montek S. Ahluwalia, 2002. "Economic Reforms in India Since 1991: Has Gradualism Worked?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 16(3), pages 67-88, Summer.
    23. Ferreira, Sergio Guimarães, 2004. "The Provision of Education and its Impacts on College Premium in Brazil," Revista Brasileira de Economia - RBE, EPGE Brazilian School of Economics and Finance - FGV EPGE (Brazil), vol. 58(2), April.
    24. Angus Deaton & Valerie Kozel, 2005. "Data and Dogma: The Great Indian Poverty Debate," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 20(2), pages 177-199.
    25. Ravallion, Martin & Chen, Shaohua, 1997. "What Can New Survey Data Tell Us about Recent Changes in Distribution and Poverty?," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 11(2), pages 357-382, May.
    26. Gaurav Datt & Martin Ravallion, 2002. "Is India's Economic Growth Leaving the Poor Behind?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 16(3), pages 89-108, Summer.
    27. Green, Francis & Dickerson, Andy & Saba Arbache, Jorge, 2001. "A Picture of Wage Inequality and the Allocation of Labor Through a Period of Trade Liberalization: The Case of Brazil," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(11), pages 1923-1939, November.
    28. Geeta Gandhi Kingdon, 2007. "The progress of school education in India," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 23(2), pages 168-195, Summer.
    29. Kevin M. Murphy & W. Craig Riddell & Paul M. Romer, 1998. "Wages, Skills, and Technology in the United States and Canada," NBER Working Papers 6638, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    30. David Card & John E. DiNardo, 2002. "Skill-Biased Technological Change and Rising Wage Inequality: Some Problems and Puzzles," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 20(4), pages 733-783, October.
    31. Chiara Binelli, 2009. "The Demand-Supply-Demand Twist: How the Wage Structure Got More Convex," Working Paper series 48_09, Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis.
    32. Daron Acemoglu, 2002. "Technical Change, Inequality, and the Labor Market," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(1), pages 7-72, March.
    33. Ms. Prachi Mishra & Mr. Utsav Kumar, 2005. "Trade Liberalization and Wage Inequality: Evidence From India," IMF Working Papers 2005/020, International Monetary Fund.
    34. David H. Autor & Lawrence F. Katz & Alan B. Krueger, 1998. "Computing Inequality: Have Computers Changed the Labor Market?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 113(4), pages 1169-1213.
    35. repec:pri:rpdevs:deaton_dreze_poverty_india is not listed on IDEAS
    36. Mr. Arvind Panagariya, 2004. "India in the 1980's and 1990's: A Triumph of Reforms," IMF Working Papers 2004/043, International Monetary Fund.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Azam, Mehtabul Azam & Blom, Andreas, 2008. "Progress in Participation in Tertiary Education in India from 1983 to 2004," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4793, The World Bank.
    2. Justin Caron & Thibault Fally & James Markusen, 2021. "Per capita income and the demand for skills," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: BROADENING TRADE THEORY Incorporating Market Realities into Traditional Models, chapter 12, pages 251-268, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    3. Vidya Atal & Kaushik Basu & John Gray & Travis Lee, 2010. "Literacy traps: Society‐wide education and individual skill premia," International Journal of Economic Theory, The International Society for Economic Theory, vol. 6(1), pages 137-148, March.
    4. Azam, Mehtabul, 2022. "Trade Liberalization and Human Capital Accumulation: Evidence from Indian Census," IZA Discussion Papers 15286, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Beretta, Silvio & Targetti Lenti, Renata, 2011. "“India in the Outsourcing/Offshoring Process: A Western Perspective” - L’India nel processo di outsourcing/offshoring: un punto di vista occidentale," Economia Internazionale / International Economics, Camera di Commercio Industria Artigianato Agricoltura di Genova, vol. 64(3), pages 269-296.
    6. Gunja Baranwal, 2016. "Links between foreign direct investment and human capital formation: Evidence from the manufacturing sector in India," WIDER Working Paper Series 123, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    7. Mahua Paul & Ramaa Arun Kumar, 2021. "Import intensity of India’s manufactured exports: an industry level analysis," Indian Economic Review, Springer, vol. 56(1), pages 67-90, June.
    8. Beladi, Hamid & Marjit, Sugata & Weiher, Kenneth, 2011. "An analysis of the demand for skill in a growing economy," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 1471-1474, July.
    9. Xu, Yang, 2022. "Structural change and the skill premium in a global economy," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Azam, Mehtabul, 2012. "Changes in Wage Structure in Urban India, 1983–2004: A Quantile Regression Decomposition," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(6), pages 1135-1150.
    2. Borghans, Lex & ter Weel, Bas, 2007. "The diffusion of computers and the distribution of wages," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 715-748, April.
    3. Fatih Guvenen & Burhanettin Kuruscu, 2010. "A Quantitative Analysis of the Evolution of the US Wage Distribution, 1970–2000," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 2009, Volume 24, pages 227-276, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Ariell Reshef, 2013. "Is Technological Change Biased Towards the Unskilled in Services? An Empirical Investigation," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 16(2), pages 312-331, April.
    5. David H. Autor & Frank Levy & Richard J. Murnane, 2003. "The skill content of recent technological change: an empirical exploration," Proceedings, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, issue Nov.
    6. Ariell Reshef, 2013. "Is Technological Change Biased Towards the Unskilled in Services? An Empirical Investigation," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 16(2), pages 312-331, April.
    7. Weinberg, Bruce A., 2004. "Experience and Technology Adoption," IZA Discussion Papers 1051, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Goel, Manisha, 2017. "Inequality Between and Within Skill Groups: The Curious Case of India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 153-176.
    9. Fitzenberger, Bernd & Kohn, Karsten, 2006. "Skill Wage Premia, Employment, and Cohort Effects: Are Workers in Germany All of the Same Type?," IZA Discussion Papers 2185, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Tomas Havranek & Zuzana Irsova & Lubica Laslopova & Olesia Zeynalova, 2020. "Skilled and Unskilled Labor Are Less Substitutable than Commonly Thought," Working Papers IES 2020/29, Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Economic Studies, revised Sep 2020.
    11. Gallego, Francisco A., 2012. "Skill Premium in Chile: Studying Skill Upgrading in the South," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 594-609.
    12. Daron Acemoglu, 2003. "Cross-Country Inequality Trends," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 113(485), pages 121-149, February.
    13. David H. Autor & Lawrence F. Katz & Melissa S. Kearney, 2005. "Trends in U. S. Wage Inequality: Re-Assessing the Revisionists," Harvard Institute of Economic Research Working Papers 2095, Harvard - Institute of Economic Research.
    14. Stephen Machin & John Van Reenen, 2007. "Changes in Wage Inequality," CEP Reports 18, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    15. David Card & John E. DiNardo, 2002. "Skill-Biased Technological Change and Rising Wage Inequality: Some Problems and Puzzles," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 20(4), pages 733-783, October.
    16. Crifo, Patricia, 2008. "Skill supply and biased technical change," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(5), pages 812-830, October.
    17. David H. Autor & Lawrence F. Katz & Melissa S. Kearney, 2008. "Trends in U.S. Wage Inequality: Revising the Revisionists," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 90(2), pages 300-323, May.
    18. Francisco Gallego, 2006. "Skill Premium in Chile: Studying the Skill Bias Technical Change Hypothesis in the South," Working Papers Central Bank of Chile 363, Central Bank of Chile.
    19. Fatih Guvenen & Burhanettin Kuruscu, 2006. "Ben-Porath meets skill-biased technical change: a theoretical analysis of rising inequality," Discussion Paper / Institute for Empirical Macroeconomics 144, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
    20. Aradhna Aggarwal & Nagesh Kumar, 2012. "Structural Change, Industrialization and Poverty Reduction: The Case of India," Development Papers 1206, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) South and South-West Asia Office.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    India; wage premium; tertiary (college); secondary (high school);
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J20 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - General
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:smu:ecowpa:710. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Ömer Özak (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.smu.edu/economics .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.