The Demographics of Technology Adoption and Productivity Growth

Young workers adopt new technologies at higher rates than old workers. I develop an overlappinggenerations model linking this lifecycle gradient to technology adoption, wages, and innovation. Using U.S. commuting-zone variation and a historical-births instrument, I show that younger workforces expand computerscience employment and raise wages, especially for young workers. Exposure through trade to youth waves in foreign markets also increases R&D employment and patenting. Calibrated to these responses, the model attributes about one quarter of the late-1990s U.S. productivity acceleration to the baby boom’s youth wave, partly recasting the IT boom as a demographic episode. Aging workforces therefore create a headwind to endogenous technology adoption and innovation.