March 2016

IZA DP No. 9851: Are Jobs More Polarized in ICT Firms?

published as 'Does ICT Usage Erode Routine Occupations at the Firm Level?' in: Labour, 2019, 33 (1), 26-47

We perform decompositions and regression analyses that test the routinization hypothesis and implied job polarization at the firm level. Prior studies have focused on the aggregate, industry or local levels. Our results for the abstract and routine occupation groups are consistent with the routinization hypothesis at the firm level. The observed changes are linked to ICT adoption. Thus, disappearing middle-level (routine) work can be traced to firm-level technological change.