Information economy and inequality: Wage polarization, unemployment, and occupation transition in Taiwan since 1980

This paper examines whether Taiwan's economic inequality has worsened as Taiwan has evolved into an information economy, a transformation which began around 1980. The paper explores this relationship by investigating three specific research questions. First, has there been a rise in wage inequality in Taiwan since 1980; and if so, what are the sources of this rise in inequality? Second, has the transition to an information economy contributed to a rise in unemployment rates? And third, what type of occupational structural transformation occurred during this transition? The paper shows that since 1980, wage inequality, unemployment, and the white-collar-blue-collar worker employment ratio have all sharply increased in Taiwan. Furthermore, the reasons for these changes seem closely related to the relative growth of the information economy.