Technological and organizational change and the careers of workers

Battisti, M. , Dustmann, C. and Schönber, U. (2023) Technological and organizational change and the careers of workers. Journal of the European Economic Association, (doi: 10.1093/jeea/jvad014) (Early Online Publication)

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 re-training 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.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: The authors gratefully acknowledge funding by NORFACE DIAL “Dynamics of Inequality across the Life- Course” (Project “Populism, Inequality and Institutions” (PII)) – 462-16-060. Christian Dustmann also acknowledges support from the European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant (MCLPS) – 833861 and the DFG – grant 1024/1-2 AOBJ:642097.
• Status: Early Online Publication
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Battisti, Professor Michele
• Authors: Battisti, M., Dustmann, C., and Schönber, U.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > Adam Smith Business School > Economics
• Journal Name: Journal of the European Economic Association
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• ISSN: 1542-4766
• ISSN (Online): 1542-4774
• Published Online: 28 February 2023
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2023 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Journal of the European Economic Association 2023
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy