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Work organization and job polarization

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  • Holm, Jacob Rubæk
  • Lorenz, Edward
  • Nielsen, Peter

Abstract

This paper contributes to the literature on job polarizaton, whereby mid-skill jobs disappear because of increased mechanization and digitization of routine tasks. While the recent empirical literature has focused on the relative importance of technical change and globalization as the main drivers of job polarization, the role of within firm organizational changes has remained unexplored. Our study contributes to filling this gap by investigating how technological and organizational changes affect the mix of jobs within the firm. To this end we merge two firm level surveys from Denmark and add registry data to gain detailed knowledge of changes in the firms’ occupational structure. We construct measures of work organization in line with previous research and using a translog model we show that changes in work organization are associated with polarization by substituting and complementing different skill groups, even in the absence of technological change and changes in offshoring. The results show not only that the organizational level is central to understanding possible trends towards job polarization, but also demonstrate that changes in work organization often co-occur with changes in technology and in offshoring behavior, leading to interactions effects between organizational change, and technology and offshoring on job polarization.

Suggested Citation

  • Holm, Jacob Rubæk & Lorenz, Edward & Nielsen, Peter, 2020. "Work organization and job polarization," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(8).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:respol:v:49:y:2020:i:8:s0048733320300949
    DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2020.104015
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    Cited by:

    1. A. Cetrulo & A. Sbardella & M. E. Virgillito, 2023. "Vanishing social classes? Facts and figures of the Italian labour market," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 33(1), pages 97-148, January.
    2. Mukherjee, Debmalya & Kumar, Satish & Pandey, Nitesh & Lahiri, Somnath, 2023. "Is offshoring dead? A multidisciplinary review and future directions," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 29(3).
    3. Hunt, Wil & Sarkar, Sudipa & Warhurst, Chris, 2022. "Measuring the impact of AI on jobs at the organization level: Lessons from a survey of UK business leaders," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(2).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Work organization; Delegation; Integration; Involvement; Job polarization; Technological change;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • L23 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Organization of Production
    • 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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