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Technical Change and Polarization of the Labor Market: Evidence for Brazil, Colombia and Mexico

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  • Carlos Medina
  • Christian Posso

Abstract

We use occupations descriptions for Brazil, Colombia and Mexico, to build computer-use related tasks intensities, and link then to series of cross sections of data of each country in order to empirically assess to what extent the observed empirical regularities, and the reallocation of workers across occupations that require different tasks intensities, are consistent with the SBTC or polarization models. We find an increase of both wages and workers at the extremes of the wage or skills occupations distribution, the less routinaire/computerizabe, particularly pronounced in the period since personal computers began to be introduced in the region. This finding, along with other empirical regularities, provides support for some of the main implications of the polarization model in the cases of Colombia and Mexico.

Suggested Citation

  • Carlos Medina & Christian Posso, 2010. "Technical Change and Polarization of the Labor Market: Evidence for Brazil, Colombia and Mexico," Borradores de Economia 614, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    • Handle: RePEc:bdr:borrec:614
    DOI: 10.32468/be.614
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    Cited by:

    1. Havranek, Tomas & Irsova, Zuzana & Laslopova, Lubica & Zeynalova, Olesia, 2020. "Skilled and Unskilled Labor Are Less Substitutable than Commonly Thought," EconStor Preprints 223060, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    2. Saloni Khurana & Kanika Mahajan, 2020. "Evolution of wage inequality in India (1983-2017): The role of occupational task content," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2020-167, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    3. Arlen Guarín & Sebastián Londoño & Carlos Medina & Julieth Parra & Christian Posso & Carlos Eduardo Vélez, 2016. "Estimating the Effect of Attending a Public versus a Private University in Colombia on Academic Achievement **** Una Estimación del Efecto sobre el Rendimiento Académico de Asistir a una Universidad P," Borradores de Economia 968, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    4. Francis Kuriakose & Deepa Kylasam Iyer, 2020. "Job Polarisation in India: Structural Causes and Policy Implications," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 63(2), pages 247-266, June.
    5. Carmiña O: Vargas, 2011. "Desigualdad de salarios en Colombia: evidencia a partir de encuestas de hogares 1984 - 2010," Borradores de Economia 8808, Banco de la Republica.
    6. Ricardo Arguello C & Daniel Valderrama G. & Sandra Acero W., 2011. "Poverty impacts of agricultural policy adjustments in an opening economy: the case of Colombia," Documentos de Trabajo 8575, Universidad del Rosario.
    7. Guèye, Adama, 2014. "Normes SPS et compétitivité-qualité de la filière fruits et légumes frais au Sénégal," Conference papers 332558, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    8. Medina-Durango, Carlos Alberto & Posso Suárez, Christian Manuel & Tamayo, Jorge A. & Monsalve, Emma, 2012. "Dinámica de la demanda laboral en la industria manufacturera colombiana 1993-2009 : una estimación panel VAR," Chapters, in: Arango-Thomas, Luis Eduardo & Hamann-Salcedo, Franz Alonso (ed.), El mercado de trabajo en Colombia : hechos, tendencias e instituciones, chapter 7, pages 289-330, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    9. Binelli Chiara, 2015. "How the wage-education profile got more convex: evidence from Mexico," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 15(2), pages 509-560, July.
    10. Christian Manuel Posso Suárez, 2008. "Desigualdad salarial en Colombia 1984-2005: cambios en la composición del mercado laboral y retornos a la educación post-secundaria," Borradores de Economia 5003, Banco de la Republica.
    11. Havranek, Tomas & Irsova, Zuzana & Laslopova, Lubica & Zeynalova, Olesia, 2020. "The Elasticity of Substitution between Skilled and Unskilled Labor: A Meta-Analysis," MPRA Paper 102598, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Lebow, Jeremy, 2024. "Immigration and occupational downgrading in Colombia," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    13. Fernández, C, 2022. "Firms, Informality and Institutions. The case of Colombia," Documentos de Trabajo 20598, Universidad del Rosario.
    14. Mendoza-Lozano, Frederick Andrés & Quintero-Peña, Jose Wilmar & García-Rodríguez, Jose Felix, 2021. "The digital divide between high school students in Colombia," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(10).
    15. Fernández, C, 2022. "Firms, Informality and Institutions. The case of Colombia," Documentos de Trabajo 020599, Universidad del Rosario.
    16. John ARIZA & Josep Lluís RAYMOND BARA, 2020. "Technological change and employment in Brazil, Colombia and Mexico: Which workers are most affected?," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 159(2), pages 137-159, June.
    17. Ricardo Argüello & Daniel Valderrama-Gonzalez, 2015. "Sectoral and poverty impacts of agricultural policy adjustments in Colombia," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 46(2), pages 259-280, March.
    18. Vargas-Riaño, Carmiña Ofelia, 2012. "Cambio tecnológico y desigualdad de salarios : Colombia, 1984-2010," Chapters, in: Arango-Thomas, Luis Eduardo & Hamann-Salcedo, Franz Alonso (ed.), El mercado de trabajo en Colombia : hechos, tendencias e instituciones, chapter 5, pages 211-251, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Relative Wages; Income Distribution; Technical Change.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J3 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs
    • D3 - Microeconomics - - Distribution
    • O3 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights

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