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The Role of Within-Occupation Task Changes in Wage Development

Author

Listed:
  • Ronald Bachmann

    (RWI – Leibniz Institute for Economic Research, Heinrich Heine University Duesseldorf and IZA, Institute for the Study of Labor, Bonn)

  • Gökay Demir

    (RWI – Leibniz Institute for Economic Research and Heinrich Heine University Duesseldorf)

  • Colin Green

    (Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim and IZA, Institute for the Study of Labor, Bonn)

  • Arne Uhlendorff

    (CREST CNRS, Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg and IZA, Institute for the Study of Labor, Bonn)

Abstract

We examine how changes in task content over time condition occupational wage development. Using survey data from Germany, we document substantial heterogeneity in within-occupational changes in task content. Combining this evidence with administrative data on individual employment outcomes over a 25-year period, we find important heterogeneity in wage penalties amongst initially routine intensive jobs. While occupations that remain (relatively) routine intensive generate substantial wage penalties, occupations with a decreasing routine intensity experience stable or even increasing wages. These findings cannot be explained by composition or cohort effects.

Suggested Citation

  • Ronald Bachmann & Gökay Demir & Colin Green & Arne Uhlendorff, 2022. "The Role of Within-Occupation Task Changes in Wage Development," Working Papers 2022-20, Center for Research in Economics and Statistics.
    • Handle: RePEc:crs:wpaper:2022-20
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. 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

    technological progress; polarization; tasks; routine workers; training.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity

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