Do Recessions Accelerate Routine-Biased Technological Change? Evidence from Vacancy Postings
80 Pages Posted: 24 Oct 2016 Last revised: 13 Mar 2022
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Do Recessions Accelerate Routine-Biased Technological Change? Evidence from Vacancy Postings
Date Written: October 2016
Abstract
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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