Wage Premiums for On-the-Job Computer Use: A Metro and Nonmetro Analysis

摘要

An analysis of on-the-job computer use shows that such use is more common in metro areas than in nonmetro areas. A substantial wage premium, 10 to 11 percent, is associated with using a computer on the job, even after other job and worker characteristics are taken into account. However, this wage premium accounts for only a small proportion of the wage differences between metro and nonmetro areas. In nonmetro areas, the computer use wage premium is only about 6 percent. This suggests that computer literacy skills may only modestly advance the earnings of low-wage workers within their current occupations in rural areas.