A portrait of the relationship between mechanization and work in the U.S. economy

Research on the effects of technological change on work has generated a wide and confusing array of findings. A key problem to date has been the lack of large‐scale studies of the relationship between mechanization and work characteristics. This study analyzes this relationship using data from the 1980 Census of Population. The results are mixed: work characteristics in more mechanized industries compared to less mechanized industries are higher in some dimensions and lower in others. A path model approach allows aggregation of these mixed results. Using wages as a yardstick, and controlling for other determinants of wages, we find that the work characteristics of more mechanized industries are upgraded in the aggregate, compared to those in less mechanized industries. @ 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.