Skill (labor) - Relative Supply of Skilled Labor

Relative Supply of Skilled Labor

Education is an important factor in increasing skill level. The increase in number of people attending high schools and colleges contribute to the increase in the supply of skilled labor. Mass education, however, is not the only factor. Immigration is also a big contributor. Immigrants created a bimodal skill distribution, where most immigrants were either low skill or high skill workers. There were few who were in between.

Historical Reference - In the United States such factors have caused an overall increase in the supply of skilled labor during the 20th century. The shift from unskilled to skilled labor can be attributed to increases in human capital, or in other words increasing the efficiency of humans through investment in knowledge. The American boom in public education, specifically high schools, congruently increased the level of human capital and total factor productivity.

Read more about this topic:  Skill (labor)

Famous quotes containing the words relative, supply, skilled and/or labor:

    It is an interesting question how far men would retain their relative rank if they were divested of their clothes.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    The job of the press is to encourage debate, not to supply the public with information.
    Christopher Lasch (b. 1932)

    Apart from the fact that women posess the equipment for lactation, mothers seem no more predisposed to, or innately skilled at, child care than are fathers, siblings or non parents. Besides, women obviously come in a variety of shapes, sizes, talents and temperaments. Why shouldn’t they vary in degrees of motherhood?
    Shari Thurer (20th century)

    I think it is a wise course for laborers to unite to defend their interests.... I think the employer who declines to deal with organized labor and to recognize it as a proper element in the settlement of wage controversies is behind the times.... Of course, when organized labor permits itself to sympathize with violent methods or undue duress, it is not entitled to our sympathy.
    William Howard Taft (1857–1930)