Technological and Organizational Change and the Careers of Workers

Abstract This paper investigates the effects of technological and organizational change (T&O) on jobs and workers. We show that although T&O reduces firm demand for routine relative to abstract task-based jobs, affected workers do not face higher probability of non-employment or lower earnin...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of the European Economic Association Vol. 21; no. 4; pp. 1551 - 1594
Main Authors Battisti, Michele, Dustmann, Christian, Schönberg, Uta
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford University Press 04.08.2023
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Summary:Abstract This paper investigates the effects of technological and organizational change (T&O) on jobs and workers. We show that although T&O reduces firm demand for routine relative to abstract task-based jobs, affected workers do not face higher probability of non-employment or lower earnings growth than unaffected workers. Rather, firms that adopt T&O offer routine workers retraining opportunities to upgrade to more abstract jobs. Older workers form an important exception: T&O increases the risk that they permanently withdraw from the labor market and reduces their earnings, regardless of the tasks they performed in the firm prior to T&O.
ISSN:1542-4766
1542-4774
DOI:10.1093/jeea/jvad014