Abstract
This paper examines some of the characteristics and the possible causes of job polarization, a process that has been progressing for some time, but that has only recently become the focus of a more intense attention of economists and policy makers. The paper looks at three different phenomena behind the seemingly increasing divergence between high and low skill jobs: (i) the evolution of the mode of production and the model of organization of the firm, (ii) the evolution of the value chains, that have become longer and more fragmented, more internationally spread, and increasingly dependent on logistics and information technology and, (iii) the reshuffling of professional competences and comparative advantage depending on the new technologies and especially on the so called internet revolution.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
The so-called principle of subsidiarity is precisely this: a hierarchical principle of proximity.
- 2.
These principles correspond to the principle of social governance.
References
About the working poor families project, The working poor families project, http://www.workingpoorfamilies.org/about.
Autor, D. H. (2015). The paradox of abundance: Automation anxiety returns. In S. Rangan (Ed.), Performance and progress: Essays on capitalism, business, and society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Autor, D. H., Levy, F., & Murnane, R. (2003). The skill content of recent technological change: An empirical exploration. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 118(4).
Autor, D. H., Katz, L. F., & Kearney, M. S. (2006). The polarization of the US labor market. The American Economic Review, 96(2).
Beveridge, S. W. (1942). Social insurance and allied services. London: HMSO.
Bluestone, B., & Harrison, B. (1986). The great american job machine: The proliferation of low wage employment in the U.S. economy. Report to the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress.
Brynjolfsson, E., & Mcafee, A. (2014). The second machine age: Work, progress, and prosperity in a time of brilliant technologies. New York, NY: W. W. Norton.
Bureau of labor statistics, United States Department of Labor, http://data.bls.gov/Cgi-bin/srgate.
Dixit, A. K., & Pindyck, R. S. (1994). Investment under uncertainty. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Goos, M., & Manning, A. (2007). Lousy and lovely jobs: The rising polarization of work in Britain. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 89(1).
Goos, M., Manning, A., & Salomons, A. (2009). Explaining job polarization in Europe: The roles of technology, globalization and institutions. American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings, 99(2).
Graetz, G., & Michaels, G. (2017). Is Modern Technology Responsible for Jobless Recoveries? IZA Discussion Paper No. 10470.
Keynes, J. M. (1935). The general theory of employment, interest, and money.
Knight, W. (2013). Baxter: The Blue-Collar Robot. Rethink Robotics’ new creation is easy to interact with, but the innovations behind the robot show just how hard it is to get along with people. MIT Technology Review.
Levine, E.S. (2012). Improving risk matrices: the advantages of logarithmically scaled axes. Journal of Risk Research, 15(2), 209–222.
Masahiko, A. (1988). Information, incentives, and bargaining in the Japanese economy. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Paganetto, L., & Scandizzo, P. L. (2010). Technology cycles and technology revolutions. In L. Paganetto (Ed.), Global crisis and long term growth: A new capitalism ahead? (pp. 157–169). Milano: McGraw-Hill.
Porter, M. E. (1998). Clusters and the new economics of competition. Harvard Business Review.
Sourcing Line Computer Economic Survey. (2014), https://www.salesoutsourcing.pro/outsourcing-statistics/.
Williamson, O.E. (1981). The economics of organization: The transaction cost approach. The American Journal of Sociology, 87(3), 548–577.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Paganetto, L., Scandizzo, P.L. (2018). Skill Polarization and Inequality: Are They Real and Inevitable?. In: Paganetto, L. (eds) Getting Globalization Right. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97692-1_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97692-1_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-97691-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-97692-1
eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceEconomics and Finance (R0)