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The Dynamics Of Task-Biased Technological Change :The Case Of Occupations

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  • Stephan Kampelmann
  • François Rycx

Abstract

This article uses detailed German household panel data to address important unresolved issuesrelated to task-biased technological change. Implementing a task-based model of occupationalemployment and earnings, results show that the task composition of occupations in 1985 issignificantly associated with relative employment changes and accounts at least partially for thejob polarisation that occurred during the period 1985-2008. By contrast, initial task content isnot related to observed trends in remuneration. We also contribute to a central, but so far underresearchedaspect of task-biased employment changes, namely their dynamics over time. Weshow that task-biased employment effects can take more than a decade to materialize, differacross task categories, and be preceded by movements in the opposite direction. These findingshave important ramifications for research in this field, for instance by underlining the necessityto work with sufficiently long observation periods and to pay closer attention to infra-periodevolutions.

Suggested Citation

  • Stephan Kampelmann & François Rycx, 2013. "The Dynamics Of Task-Biased Technological Change :The Case Of Occupations," Brussels Economic Review, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles, vol. 56(2), pages 113-142.
    • Handle: RePEc:bxr:bxrceb:2013/186516
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    Cited by:

    1. Mariacristina Piva & Marco Vivarelli, 2018. "Innovation, jobs, skills and tasks: a multifaceted relationship," DISCE - Quaderni del Dipartimento di Politica Economica dipe0001, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Dipartimenti e Istituti di Scienze Economiche (DISCE).
    2. Silvia Vannutelli & Sergio Scicchitano & Marco Biagetti, 2022. "Routine-biased technological change and wage inequality: do workers’ perceptions matter?," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 12(3), pages 409-450, September.
    3. Rosalia Castellano & Gaetano Musella & Gennaro Punzo, 2017. "Structure of the labour market and wage inequality: evidence from European countries," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 51(5), pages 2191-2218, September.
    4. Antonio Garofalo & Rosalia Castellano & Gennaro Punzo & Gaetano Musella, 2018. "Skills and labour incomes: how unequal is Italy as part of the Southern European countries?," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 52(4), pages 1471-1500, July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Polarisation; Technological change; Pay rules; Occupations; Inequality; Tasks;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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