The Sector Bias of Skill-biased Technical Change and the Rising Skill Premium in Transition Economies

  • Piero Esposito
  • Robert Stehrer

We test the hypothesis that the sector bias of skill biased technical change is important in explaining the rising relative wage of skilled workers in the manufacturing sector in three Central and Eastern European transition countries. The econometric results broadly confirm that the concentration of skill biased technical change in the skill intensive sectors had a significant effect on the skill premium in these transition countries.