Do recessions accelerate routine-biased technological change? Evidence from vacancy postings

We show that skill requirements in job vacancy postings differentially increased in MSAs that were hit hard by the Great Recession, relative to less hard-hit areas. These increases persist through at least the end of 2015 and are correlated with increases in capital investments, both at the MSA and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American economic review Vol. 108; no. 7; pp. 1737 - 1772
Main Authors: Hershbein, Brad J, Kahn, Lisa B
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Nashville American Economic Association 01.07.2018
Subjects:
Arbeitsanforderung
Arbeitskräftebedarf
Arbeitsplatzangebot
Auswirkung
Ballungsraum
Bias
Capital
Capital investments
Careers
Great Recession
Investments
Job vacancies
Konjunkturaufschwung
Niedrig qualifizierte Arbeit
Occupations
Qualifikationsanforderung
Qualifikationsniveau
Qualifikationswandel
Recessions
Regionale Disparität
Regionaler Faktor
Rezession
Routine
Skilled workers
Stellenangebot
Stellenanzeige
Stellenbeschreibung
Technological change
Technologische Entwicklung
USA
Wirtschaftskrise
ISSN:0002-8282, 1944-7981
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:We show that skill requirements in job vacancy postings differentially increased in MSAs that were hit hard by the Great Recession, relative to less hard-hit areas. These increases persist through at least the end of 2015 and are correlated with increases in capital investments, both at the MSA and firm levels. We also find that effects are most pronounced in routine-cognitive occupations, which exhibit relative wage growth as well. We argue that this evidence is consistent with the restructuring of production toward routine- biased technologies and the more-skilled workers that complement them, and that the Great Recession accelerated this process.
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ISSN:0002-8282
1944-7981
DOI:10.1257/aer.20161570