Upgrading or polarization? Occupational change in Britain, Germany, Spain and Switzerland, 1990-2008

Détails

Ressource 1Télécharger: BIB_7D64CECD8067.P001.pdf (317.08 [Ko])
Etat: Public
Version: Author's accepted manuscript
ID Serval
serval:BIB_7D64CECD8067
Type
Article: article d'un périodique ou d'un magazine.
Collection
Publications
Titre
Upgrading or polarization? Occupational change in Britain, Germany, Spain and Switzerland, 1990-2008
Périodique
Socio-Economic Review
Auteur⸱e⸱s
Oesch D., Rodriguez Menes J.
ISSN
1475-147X (Online1475-1461)
Statut éditorial
Publié
Date de publication
2011
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
9
Numéro
3
Pages
1-29
Langue
anglais
Résumé
We analyse occupational change over the last two decades in Britain, Germany, Spain and Switzerland: which jobs have been expanding-high-paid jobs, lowpaid jobs or both? Based on individual-level data, four hypotheses are examined: skill-biased technical change, routinization, skill supply evolution and wagesetting institutions. We find massive occupational upgrading which matches educational expansion: employment expanded most at the top of the occupational hierarchy, among managers and professionals. In parallel, intermediary occupations (clerks and production workers) declined relative to those at the bottom (interpersonal service workers). This U-shaped pattern of upgrading is consistent with the routinization hypothesis: technology seems a better substitute for average-paid clerical and manufacturing jobs than for low-end interpersonal service jobs. Yet country differences in low-paid services suggest that wage-setting institutions channel technological change into more or less polarized patterns of upgrading.
Moreover, immigration surges in Britain and Spain seem decisive in having provided the low-skilled labour supply necessary to fill low-paid jobs.
Mots-clé
labour markets, technological change, inequality, occupations, employment, skills
Création de la notice
09/12/2010 11:40
Dernière modification de la notice
20/08/2019 14:38
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