The Role of Technology Intensity in Shaping Skilled Labor Demand Through Imports: The Case of Türkiye

Abstract According to the skill-biased technological change theory, the technological intensity of the imported input used in manufacturing may affect labor demand. This study examines the impact of imported inputs with different technological intensities on the absolute and relative demand for skilled labor in Türkiye’s manufacturing sector. Furthermore, the study focuses on only high and medium-high technological industries. The autoregressive distributed lag method was applied to monthly data from 2009:01 to 2020:11 to identify the long- and short-term effects. The study unveiled the presence of a long-term relationship between imported inputs and the demand for skilled labor. When raw material imports increased, the long-term absolute demand for skilled labor was found to be diminished. However, capital goods imports increased the short-term relative demand for skilled labor. Finally, total imports (i.e., the combination of raw material and capital goods) positively influenced the relative demand for skilled labor in the short term. However, in the long term, skilled labor demand was negatively correlated with total imports.