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Technological and Organizational Change and the Careers of Workers

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Listed:
  • Battisti, Michele

    (University of Glasgow)

  • Dustmann, Christian

    (University College London)

  • Schönberg, Uta

    (University College London)

Abstract

This paper investigates the effects of technological and organizational change (T&O) on jobs and workers. We show that although T&O reduces firm demand for routine relative to abstract task-based jobs, affected workers do not face higher probability of non-employment or lower earnings growth than unaffected workers. Rather, firms that adopt T&O offer routine workers re-training opportunities to upgrade to more abstract jobs. Older workers form an important exception: T&O increases the risk that they permanently withdraw from the labor market and reduces their earnings, regardless of the tasks they performed in the firm prior to T&O.

Suggested Citation

  • Battisti, Michele & Dustmann, Christian & Schönberg, Uta, 2022. "Technological and Organizational Change and the Careers of Workers," IZA Discussion Papers 15772, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15772
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Florencia Jaccoud & Fabien Petit & Tommaso Ciarli & Maria Savona, 2024. "Automation and Employment over the Technology Life Cycle: Evidence from European Regions," CEPEO Working Paper Series 24-02, UCL Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities, revised Feb 2024.
    2. Burdin, Gabriel & Dughera, Stefano & Landini, Fabio & Belloc, Filippo, 2023. "Contested Transparency: Digital Monitoring Technologies and Worker Voice," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1340, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    3. Mauro Caselli & Andrea Fracasso & Arianna Marcolin & Sergio Scicchitano, 2023. "Technological Innovations and Workers’ Job Insecurity: The Moderating Role of Firm Strategies," CESifo Working Paper Series 10673, CESifo.
    4. Diego Dabed Sitnisky & Sabrina Genz & Emilie Rademakers, 2023. "Resilience to Automation: The Role of Task Overlap for Job Finding," Working Papers 2312, Utrecht School of Economics.
    5. Arntz, Melanie & Genz, Sabrina & Gregory, Terry & Lehmer, Florian & Zierahn-Weilage, Ulrich, 2024. "De-routinization in the fourth industrial revolution: Firm-level evidence," ZEW Discussion Papers 24-005, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    6. Bustos, Emil, 2023. "The Effect of Centrally Bargained Wages on Firm Growth," Working Paper Series 1456, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    7. Ivanov, Boris, 2023. "Changes in Occupational Tasks and the Costs of Job Loss," VfS Annual Conference 2023 (Regensburg): Growth and the "sociale Frage" 277669, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    careers of workers; technological change;

    JEL classification:

    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

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