Endogenous skill biased technical change: Testing for demand pull effect

In this article we use the unification of Germany in 1990 to test the hypothesis that an increase in the supply of a production factor generates skill biased technical change. We test for this mechanism in the context of the model presented by Acemoglu and Autor (2011, Skills, tasks and technologies: implications for employment and earnings', in O. Ashenfelter and D. Card (eds), Handbook of Labor Economics, Vol. 4B. Amsterdam: North Holland) that allows endogenous assignment of skills to tasks in the economy. We use cohorts of workers from comparable countries as a control group. After discussing the possible confounding factors, we conclude that this effect is absent. The differential pattern among the countries seems to be determined by labor market flexibilization and tax reform.