Comment – The impact of globalisation and technology on local labour markets[Commentaire - L’impact de la mondialisation et de la technologie sur les marchés du travail locaux]

The rise of new technologies and globalisation has recently generated major struc- tural changes in developed economies. These changes alter significantly economic activities and affect spatial disparities. The articles by Charnoz and Orand and by Jennequin, Miotti and Mouhoud offer two original analyses of changing patterns in local labour markets in France. They show that structural changes affect employment zones differently depending on their employment structure and their international exposure. Because of their specialisations in high value-added jobs, major cities emerge the winners from these changing patterns. The rural territories and cities traditionally specialised in routine jobs have, meanwhile, turned to computers and robotisation and are thus experiencing a decline in these jobs. This phenomenon is magnified by offshoring. These papers have important implications for economic policies, as they identify the infranational territories that may have large effects on employment and wages trends at the national level.