Explaining job polarisation in Spain from a task perspective

Abstract

This paper presents new evidence on the evolution of job polarisation in Spain between 1994 and 2014. After showing the U-shaped relationship between employment share growth and job’s percentile in the wage distribution, I use the task approach to investigate the main determinants behind job polarisation. Using the European Working Condition Survey I analyse in detail the task content of the jobs which display the most significant employment changes. I show that changes in employment shares are negatively related to the initial level of routine. I then explore the impact of computerisation on routine task inputs and I find that the routine measure is negatively related to computerisation. Finally, by using information on past jobs, I provide evidence on the displacement of middle-paid workers. Results suggest that they did not predominantly relocate their labour supply to bottom-paid occupations: while non-graduate middle workers move towards bottom occupations, graduate middle employees shift towards top occupations. This fact suggests that supply-side changes are important factors in explaining the expansion at the lower and upper tail of the employment distribution.