The Effect of professionalisation and the demand for social status on the adoption of new technologies

The argument put forward in this paper is that professionalisation may hamper the diffusion of innovative technologies because it makes the choice of the new professions less attractive to workers. Moreover, it renders the management of high-skilled workers costly for firms. To the extent that these kinds of workers are complementary to the new technologies, their reduced supply and the costs of their management may be serious obstacles against the diffusion of technological innovation.