Technological Change and the Consequences of Job Loss
J. Carter Braxton, Bledi Taska
American Economic Review · 2023 · Volume 113 · Issue 2
Abstract
We examine the role of technological change in explaining the large and persistent decline in earnings following job loss. Using detailed skill requirements from the near universe of online vacancies, we estimate technological change by occupation and find that technological change accounts for 45 percent of the decline in earnings after job loss. Technological change lowers earnings after job loss by requiring workers to have new skills to perform newly created jobs in their prior occupation. When workers lack the required skills, they move to occupations where their skills are still employable but are paid a lower wage.
Keywords
Human Capital, Skills, Occupational Choice, Labor Productivity, Wage Level and Structure, Wage Differentials, Labor Turnover, Vacancies, Layoffs, Technological Change: Choices and Consequences, Diffusion Processes
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