Unbalanced Growth in the Labourscape: explaining regional employment divergence

This paper investigates the role of human capital in explaining divergent employment growth within advanced economies. It adds a spatial dimension to William J. Baumol’s theory of ‘unbalanced growth’ by linking it with the concept of ‘job polarization’. We develop a theory of ‘geographical unbalanced growth’ that explains divergent employment trajectories in terms of skill restructuring. The theory is operationalized via a novel shift–share extension, which is applied to Australian data. We find evidence of ongoing regional divergence and for our proposed mechanism. The findings reinforce the importance of active policies to attract high-skilled jobs to non-metropolitan regions.

Existence of asymmetry between wages and automatable jobs: a quantile regression approach

PurposeThis study aims to explore, in the context of Machinery and Equipment sector of Malaysia, the association between average wages and share of employment in automatable jobs, specifically whether the association between average wages and share of employment automatable jobs is asymmetric in nature.Design/methodology/approachThe responses obtained from the structured interview of 265 firms are used to build up the empirical models (conditional mean regression and quantile regression).FindingsThe conditional mean regression findings show that employment levels in some low-waged, middle-skilled jobs are negatively associated with average wages. Furthermore, the quantile regression results add that firms that possess higher levels of share of employment in automation jobs are found to have a stronger association to average wages than those possessing a lower share of employment in automation jobs.Practical implicationsFrom the theoretical perspective, the findings of this study add to the body of knowledge of the theory of minimum wages and the concept of job polarization. From a policy perspective, the findings of this study can serve as a critical input to standard setters and regulators in devising industrial and as education policies.Originality/valueBased on the assumption of a constant average policy effect on automatable jobs, conditional mean regression models have been commonly used in prior studies. This study makes the first attempt to employ the quantile regression method to provide a deeper understanding of the relationship between wages and employment in automatable jobs.

The role of skills and tasks in changing employment trends and income inequality in Chile

Using decomposition methods, we analyse the role of the changing nature of work in explaining changes in employment, wage inequality, and job polarization in Chile from 1992 to 2017. Changes in occupational structure confirm a displacement of workers from low-skill occupations towards jobs demanding non-routine higher skills (professionals and technicians), and to jobs demanding routine manual and cognitive tasks (services and sales). Changes in occupational earnings have had an equalizing effect, with more substantial gains in favour of lower-skill occupations and also at the top of the skill premium. Inequality reductions since the 2000s are explained by a fall in earnings in the top percentiles of the distribution, which have been reallocated most noticeably around the median (2000–06) and the bottom 30 per cent (2006–17). Changes in the returns to education and the relocation of workers towards less-routine occupations have contributed to the inequality reduction.

Earnings inequality and the changing nature of work: Evidence from Labour Force Survey data of Bangladesh

With structural changes in production coupled with technological progress, there have been shifts in modes of production and patterns of employment, with important consequences on task composition of occupations. This paper has utilized different rounds of Labour Force Survey data of Bangladesh and combined it with occupation network data of the United States along with its country-specific database and analysed the role of such factors on labour market outcomes. Our analysis shows a fall in the average routine intensity of tasks with no evidence of job polarization. We find a decline in earnings inequality where the decomposition analysis shows that earnings structure effect rather than characteristics effect plays a key role, with routine-task intensity of jobs and education explaining the majority of differences in earnings. Our analysis suggests that investing in education should be the highest priority, with greater emphasis on skill-biased training programmes, particularly those involving cognitive skill.

Unemployment

This chapter offers a wide-ranging review of the macroeconomics of unemployment and related issues. Setting the scene with definitions, motivation, and facts, the discussion proceeds to a baseline wage and price setting model, which offers some first key insights. Formal models of trade unions and efficiency wages, and of the less standard, but topical, dual labour markets, are developed next. Dynamic issues, such as hysteresis and its underpinning factors, are also discussed. A major subsequent theme is the flows and search-based recent theory, emphasizing job creation and destruction, hiring and firing costs, and the Beveridge Curve. Additionally, the effects of technical progress on unemployment, wage inequality, and job polarization are discussed. The chapter concludes with a review of the high European unemployment of the 1980s and 1990s and the ‘shocks versus institutions’ debates on its causes.