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Biased Technological Change and Employment Reallocation

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  • Zsofia Barany

    (ECON - Département d'économie (Sciences Po) - Sciences Po - Sciences Po - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CEPR - Center for Economic Policy Research)

  • Christian Siegel

    (Kent Business School, University of Kent)

Abstract

To study the drivers of the employment reallocation across sectors and occupations between 1960 and 2017 in the US we present a model where technology evolves at the sector-occupation cell level. Drawing on key equations of the production side we infer technologies directly from the data. We assess the magnitude of neutral, sector-, and occupation-specific components in technological change and study their consequences for labor market outcomes in general equilibrium where occupational choice and demands for sectoral outputs change endogenously with technology. Our findings indicate a major role for occupation-specific technological changes.

Suggested Citation

  • Zsofia Barany & Christian Siegel, 2020. "Biased Technological Change and Employment Reallocation," Post-Print hal-03493308, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03493308
    DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2020.101930
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-03493308
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    Cited by:

    1. Michael J Böhm & Terry Gregory & Pamela Qendrai & Christian Siegel, 2021. "Demographic change and regional labour markets," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 37(1), pages 113-131.
    2. Yang Shen, 2024. "Future jobs: analyzing the impact of artificial intelligence on employment and its mechanisms," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 1-33, April.
    3. Melanie Arntz & Sebastian Findeisen & Stephan Maurer & Oliver Schlenker, 2024. "Are we yet sick of new technologies? The unequal health effects of digitalization," CEP Discussion Papers dp1984, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    4. Pena, Werner & Siegel, Christian, 2023. "Routine-biased technical change, structure of employment, and cross-country income differences," CEPR Discussion Papers 18366, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    5. Daron Acemoglu & Pascual Restrepo, 2022. "Tasks, Automation, and the Rise in U.S. Wage Inequality," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 90(5), pages 1973-2016, September.
    6. Náplava Radek, 2019. "Changing structure of Employment in Europe: Polarization Issue," Review of Economic Perspectives, Sciendo, vol. 19(4), pages 307-318, December.
    7. Cnossen, Femke & Piracha, Matloob & Tchuente, Guy, 2021. "Learning the Right Skill: The Returns to Social, Technical and Basic Skills for Middle-Educated Graduates," GLO Discussion Paper Series 979, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    8. Antonio Martins-Neto & Nanditha Mathew & Pierre Mohnen & Tania Treibich, 2024. "Is There Job Polarization in Developing Economies? A Review and Outlook," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 39(2), pages 259-288.
    9. Wang, Ting & Zhang, Yi & Liu, Chun, 2024. "Robot adoption and employment adjustment: Firm-level evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    10. Rob Davies & Dirk van Seventer, 2020. "Labour market polarization in South Africa: A decomposition analysis," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2020-17, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Biased technological change; Structural change; Employment polarization;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O41 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - One, Two, and Multisector Growth Models
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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