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Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics pp 1–18Cite as

Employment Impact of Technologies in the Developing World

Abstract

This chapter proposes to examine the impact of technological progress on employment in developing countries. Using the World Enterprise Survey data, the focus is laid on the manufacturing sector. On employment, the impact of foreign technology, imported inputs, and foreign ownership are positive. Domestic innovation also results in higher levels of employment. Hence, foreign technology and better quality imported inputs can be beneficial for the firms as new opportunities may come up for expansion in activities though the joint effect turns out to be negative. Furthermore, the skilled labor demand responds positively to technology and input acquisition from abroad while the unskilled labor demand does not rise significantly. Domestic innovation also shows positive effect on skilled labor. Hence, it seems that the dampening effect of new technology on employment in absolute sense seems to be rather exaggerated while the concern may be justified in relative terms or in reference to unskilled labor particularly.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. South Asian University, Delhi, India

    Arup Mitra

  2. Indian Institute of Management Lucknow, Noida, India

    Chandan Sharma

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  1. Arup Mitra
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  2. Chandan Sharma
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Correspondence to Arup Mitra .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. UNU-MERIT & Princeton University, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    Prof. Dr. Klaus F. Zimmermann

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  1. Department of Economic Policy, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milano, Italy

    Marco Vivarelli

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Mitra, A., Sharma, C. (2020). Employment Impact of Technologies in the Developing World. In: Zimmermann, K. (eds) Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57365-6_14-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57365-6_14-1

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