关键词: 资本技能互补, 技术进步, 技能偏向, CES生产函数, 质量阶梯型技术创新

Abstract: Based on the three-element two-layer nested CES production function and quality ladder-type technological innovation model, this paper reveals various factors that determine the skill bias of technological progress through theoretical analysis of corporate behavior. It is found that the skill-biased technological progress depends on the direct effect of technological progress, the indirect effect of capital-skill complementarity, and the scale effect of labor market. Among them, the indirect effect of capital-skill complementarity leads to the skill-biased technological progress in two mechanisms. First, the technical level of capital improves the productivity of skilled labor; second, the expansion of capital scale is biased towards skilled labor. The empirical result that measures the skill bias index of technological progress of China during the period of 1991-2016 is estimated by the Bayesian parameter estimation method. It shows that the effect of complementarity plays an important role in the skill-biased decision of technological progress. During this period the direct effect is biased towards unskilled labor, but the indirect effect of capital-skill complementarity and the scale effect of factor allocation are biased towards skilled labor, and the intensity of their effects is greater than the direct effect. As a result, China’s technological progress shows an overall bias towards skilled labor.

Key words: Capital-Skill Complementarity, Technological Progress, Skill Bias, CES Production Function, Quality Ladder-Type Technological Innovation