Employment Polarization in local labor markets: the Dutch case

Recent literature documents the pervasiveness of job polarization in the labor markets of the developed world. However, relatively little is known about polarization on a sub-national level. We exploit extensive data on both genders from Statistics Netherlands to confirm polarization as an important trend in the Dutch national labor market between 1999 and 2012. Recent literature documents the pervasiveness of job polarization in the labor markets of the developed world. However, relatively little is known about polarization on a sub-national level. We exploit extensive data on both genders from Statistics Netherlands to confirm polarization as an important trend in the Dutch national labor market between 1999 and 2012. Furthermore, our sub-national analysis reveals considerable spatial heterogeneity among local labor markets. The degree of urbanization plays an important role; regions that are initially more urbanized are more likely to exhibit polarization. Finally, using a skill-based approach we report evidence supporting the routinization hypothesis as an important source of polarization.