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Are Skill Requirements in the Workplace Rising? Stylized Facts and Evidence on Skill-Biased Technological Change

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  • Spitz, Alexandra

Abstract

The present analysis investigates skill requirements in the workplace, measured directly by the task-composition of occupations. It shows that the task composition of occupations has shifted toward analytical and interactive activities and away from manual and cognitive routine activities in West Germany between 1979 and 1999. These withinoccupational task changes account for around 50 percent of the educational upgrading in recent decades. The analysis shows additionally that computer technology is complementary to workers in executing analytical and interactive activities, whereas it substitutes for workers in performing manual and cognitive routine tasks. This relationship exists within occupations, within occupation-education groups and within occupation-age groups.

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  • Spitz, Alexandra, 2004. "Are Skill Requirements in the Workplace Rising? Stylized Facts and Evidence on Skill-Biased Technological Change," ZEW Discussion Papers 04-33, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:zewdip:1859
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    Cited by:

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    2. Ludwig, Volker & Pfeiffer, Friedhelm, 2005. "Abschreibungsraten allgemeiner und beruflicher Ausbildungsinhalte," ZEW Discussion Papers 05-36, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    3. Borghans, Lex & Weel, Bas ter & Weinberg, Bruce A., 2005. "People People: Social Capital and the Labor-Market - Outcomes of Underrepresented Groups," Research Memorandum 002, Maastricht University, Maastricht Economic Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    4. Hartmut Egger & Volker Grossmann, 2005. "Non-Routine Tasks, Restructuring of Firms, and Wage Inequality Within and Between Skill-Groups," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 86(3), pages 197-228, December.
    5. Ardiana N. Gashi & Geoff Pugh & Nick Adnett, 2010. "Technological change and employer‐provided training: evidence from UK workplaces," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 31(4), pages 426-448, July.
    6. Osikominu, Aderonke, 2005. "Eine Analyse der Teilnehmerselektion in die berufliche Weiterbildung auf Basis der Integrierten Erwerbsbiografien (IEB)," IAB-Forschungsbericht 200523, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    7. Uschi Backes-Gellner & Johannes Mure & Simone Tuor, 2006. "The Puzzle of Non-Participation in Continuing Training – An Empirical Study of Permanent vs. Occasional Non-Participation," Working Papers 0058, University of Zurich, Institute for Strategy and Business Economics (ISU).
    8. Spitz, Alexandra, 2005. "The Effects of Changes in the Unemployment Compensation System on the Adoption of IT by Older Workers," ZEW Discussion Papers 05-40, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    9. Emilie Bourdu & Olivier Bouba-Olga, 2012. "Évaluation d'impact d'un nouveau service public de formation professionnelle," Post-Print hal-00613021, HAL.
    10. Alan Manning, 2004. "We Can Work It Out: The Impact of Technological Change on the Demand for Low‐Skill Workers," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 51(5), pages 581-608, November.
    11. Baldwin, Richard, 2012. "Global supply chains: Why they emerged, why they matter, and where they are going," CEPR Discussion Papers 9103, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    12. Joachim Ragnitz & Stefan Eichler & Beate Henschel & Harald Lehmann & Carsten Pohl & Lutz Schneider & Helmut Seitz & Marcel Thum, 2007. "Die demographische Entwicklung in Ostdeutschland : Gutachten im Auftrag des Bundesministeriums für Wirtschaft und Technologie," ifo Dresden Studien, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 41, July.
    13. Spitz, Alexandra, 2004. "Using Methods of Treatment Evaluation to Estimate the Wage Effect of IT Usage," ZEW Discussion Papers 04-67, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    occupational skill requirements; skill-biased technological change;

    JEL classification:

    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General

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