Research On The Impact Of Internet On The Skill Wage Disparity Of Chinese Workforce

In order to capture the new information revolution,China government implemented the "Broadband China" strategy in 2013,which has led to the rapid development of internet technology in China and has had a profound impact on individuals and society.The development of internet technology is leading a new round of information revolution and has profound impact on people’s lives,including on individual income.The impact of information and communication technology(ICT)development on labor force has been studied for a long time,and many domestic and international studies have found that the use of computers and the Internet can bring wage premium to workers,while there is a certain heterogeneity in the impact of technology development on the wages of different groups,and this paper mainly focuses on groups with different skills.Since the 1980s,studies have found that the skill premium has tended to widen in many countries,and economists proposed skill-biased technological development to explain it.Wage differentials among skilled workers arise from differences in learning ability and are reflected in the difficulty of the tasks they undertake.Skill-biased technology theory suggests that skill-complementary technology development is a rational market response to the increasing supply of skilled workers because of the increasing supply of high-skilled workers,which leads to the greater market size and profitability for the development of skill-complementary technology.To explore the impact of Internet technology on skill wage gap,this paper firstly uses cross-sectional data and balanced panel data of CFPS2010,CFPS2014,and CFPS2018.Under the OLS and panel fixed effects methods,it studies the impact of internet use on the wages of high-and low-skill groups from the perspective of individuals.Then,we further discuss the mechanism and Heterogeneity effects.Secondly,using CHIP2007 and CHIP2013 urban resident data,we study the impact of Internet development on the skill wage gap from an urban perspective.The main conclusions obtained are:(1)The use of Internet technology and urban Internet development further widen the wage gap between high-and low-skill groups,but urban Internet development narrow the income gap between low-and middle-skill groups to some extent,and the impact of Internet technology on the skill wage gap is greater for low-and middle-income groups than for high-income groups;(2)the effect of the Internet on skill wage disparities may be due to differences in the efficiency of different skill groups in using Internet information.Comparing to the low-skill workers,higher skill groups may be better at obtaining effective information and improving their bargaining levels in the labor market through the use of Internet.Then further obtaining higher income and promotion opportunities;(3)the use of the internet may also further widen the urban-rural income gap and the regional income gap,and further widen the skill wage gap within the West,causing a greater wage gap.Based on the above findings,this paper proposes policy recommendations that government departments should improve Internet infrastructure;make good use of the Internet technology to narrow the disparity between the rich and poorand provide Internet technology training for lowskilled workers.