Goodrum, P M and Gangwar, M (2004) The relationship between changes in equipment technology and wages in the US construction industry. Construction Management and Economics, 22(3), pp. 291-301. ISSN 01446193
Abstract
The US construction industry has witnessed a drop in real wages since 1970. The decline in real wages may be attributed to a combination of socio-economic factors like migrant labourers, fringe benefits, safety procedures, union membership and worker skills. Another factor that may be impacting construction real wages is technological changes over the past couple of decades, including technological changes in construction equipment. This paper examines the relationship between changes in equipment technology and changes in construction wages with the help of five factors of equipment technology change: control, energy, ergonomics, functionality and information processing. Furthermore, data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics' Current Population Survey is used to examine the effects of computer usage on wages among US hourly workers in construction. The research findings show significant relations exist between changes in equipment control, functionality and information processing with wages among non-supervisory workers. Another finding indicated that although non-supervisory construction workers who use computers at work earn higher hourly wages, there was no added wage benefit after controlling for the effects of experience, education and age.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | computer; construction; equipment technology; labour; wages |
| Index terms: | construction equipment, technological change, construction worker, economic indicator, functionality, construction industry, information processing, ergonomics, population, economic factor, wages, survey |
| Subjects: | innovation studies, design features, data collection methods, data analysis and analytics, practitioner, economic concepts, demography, construction equipment, data science, industry analysis, business economics, occupational health and safety management |
| Topics: | Digital Applications, Human Resources, Research Practice, Health and Safety, Roles and Professions, Design Practice, Urban Studies, Plant and Equipment, Business Strategy |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here