Does the Adoption of Complex Software Impact Employment Composition and the Skill Content of Occupations? : Evidence from Chilean Firms
A major concern with the rapid spread of technology is that it replaces some jobs, displacing workers. However, technology may raise firm productivity, generating more jobs. The paper contributes to this debate by exploiting a novel panel data set...
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2017
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/745071498244425319/Brexit-trade-governance-and-legal-implications-for-third-countries http://hdl.handle.net/10986/27608 |
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okr-10986-276082021-06-08T14:42:47Z Does the Adoption of Complex Software Impact Employment Composition and the Skill Content of Occupations? : Evidence from Chilean Firms Almeida, Rita K. Fernandes, Ana M. Viollaz, Mariana COMPLEX SOFTWARE SKILLS EMPLOYMENT COMPOSITION OCCUPATIONS TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION LABOR DISPLACEMENT SKILLED LABOR LABOR MARKET A major concern with the rapid spread of technology is that it replaces some jobs, displacing workers. However, technology may raise firm productivity, generating more jobs. The paper contributes to this debate by exploiting a novel panel data set for Chilean firms in all sectors between 2007 and 2013. While previous studies examine the impacts of automation on the use of routine tasks by middle-educated workers. this study focuses on a measure of complex software that is typically used by more educated workers in cognitive and nonroutine tasks for client, production, and business management. The instrumental variables estimates show that in the medium run, firms' adoption of complex software affects firms' employment decisions and the skill content of occupations. The adoption of complex software reallocates employment from skilled workers to administrative and unskilled production workers. This reallocation leads to an increase in the use of routine and manual tasks and a reduction in the use of abstract tasks within firms. Interestingly, the impacts tend to be concentrated in sectors with a less educated workforce, suggesting that technology can constrain job creation for the more skilled workers there. The paper concludes that the type of technology matters for understanding the impacts of technology adoption on the labor market. 2017-07-17T21:20:22Z 2017-07-17T21:20:22Z 2017-06 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/745071498244425319/Brexit-trade-governance-and-legal-implications-for-third-countries http://hdl.handle.net/10986/27608 English en_US Policy Research Working Paper;NO. 8110 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Latin America & Caribbean Chile |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English en_US |
| topic |
COMPLEX SOFTWARE SKILLS EMPLOYMENT COMPOSITION OCCUPATIONS TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION LABOR DISPLACEMENT SKILLED LABOR LABOR MARKET |
| spellingShingle |
COMPLEX SOFTWARE SKILLS EMPLOYMENT COMPOSITION OCCUPATIONS TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION LABOR DISPLACEMENT SKILLED LABOR LABOR MARKET Almeida, Rita K. Fernandes, Ana M. Viollaz, Mariana Does the Adoption of Complex Software Impact Employment Composition and the Skill Content of Occupations? : Evidence from Chilean Firms |
| geographic_facet |
Latin America & Caribbean Chile |
| relation |
Policy Research Working Paper;NO. 8110 |
| description |
A major concern with the rapid spread of
technology is that it replaces some jobs, displacing
workers. However, technology may raise firm productivity,
generating more jobs. The paper contributes to this debate
by exploiting a novel panel data set for Chilean firms in
all sectors between 2007 and 2013. While previous studies
examine the impacts of automation on the use of routine
tasks by middle-educated workers. this study focuses on a
measure of complex software that is typically used by more
educated workers in cognitive and nonroutine tasks for
client, production, and business management. The
instrumental variables estimates show that in the medium
run, firms' adoption of complex software affects
firms' employment decisions and the skill content of
occupations. The adoption of complex software reallocates
employment from skilled workers to administrative and
unskilled production workers. This reallocation leads to an
increase in the use of routine and manual tasks and a
reduction in the use of abstract tasks within firms.
Interestingly, the impacts tend to be concentrated in
sectors with a less educated workforce, suggesting that
technology can constrain job creation for the more skilled
workers there. The paper concludes that the type of
technology matters for understanding the impacts of
technology adoption on the labor market. |
| format |
Working Paper |
| author |
Almeida, Rita K. Fernandes, Ana M. Viollaz, Mariana |
| author_facet |
Almeida, Rita K. Fernandes, Ana M. Viollaz, Mariana |
| author_sort |
Almeida, Rita K. |
| title |
Does the Adoption of Complex Software Impact Employment Composition and the Skill Content of Occupations? : Evidence from Chilean Firms |
| title_short |
Does the Adoption of Complex Software Impact Employment Composition and the Skill Content of Occupations? : Evidence from Chilean Firms |
| title_full |
Does the Adoption of Complex Software Impact Employment Composition and the Skill Content of Occupations? : Evidence from Chilean Firms |
| title_fullStr |
Does the Adoption of Complex Software Impact Employment Composition and the Skill Content of Occupations? : Evidence from Chilean Firms |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Does the Adoption of Complex Software Impact Employment Composition and the Skill Content of Occupations? : Evidence from Chilean Firms |
| title_sort |
does the adoption of complex software impact employment composition and the skill content of occupations? : evidence from chilean firms |
| publisher |
World Bank, Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2017 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/745071498244425319/Brexit-trade-governance-and-legal-implications-for-third-countries http://hdl.handle.net/10986/27608 |
| _version_ |
1764465479581171712 |