Are computers at home a form of consumption or an investment ? : a longitudinal analysis for Japan

The study examines the effect of computer possession at home on labor market outcomes using longitudinal data collected in Japan.There are positive correlations between computer possession and women\u27s full-time employment and the salaries of men and women.In fixed effects analysis,however,no temporal effects of computer possession on labor market outcomes were found in causal sense.On the other hand,computer possession at home affects women\u27s employment and hourly wages with one-year lag.These findings support the hypothesis that the computer possession at home helps computer skill acquisition among workers who do not work currently or marginally attach to the labor market.Since computer skill acquisition takes time,considering lagged effect is important for the identification of the computer effect on labor market outcome.Includes bibliographical reference