Digitalization, Change in Skill Distance Between Occupations and Occupational Mobility

Arnaud Dupuy, Morgan Raux and Sara Signorelli

No 26062, RFBerlin Discussion Paper Series from ROCKWOOL Foundation Berlin (RFBerlin)

Abstract: Technological change affects labor markets not only by shifting labor demand across occupations, but also by reshaping the skill distances that govern workers' ability to move between jobs. This paper studies the digitalization wave of the 2010s using task data from online job postings, matched employer-employee data, and a gravity framework of occupational mobility. We show that while most occupations became more digital, skill distances converged for some occupation pairs and diverged for others, increasing mobility along some pathways and reducing it along others. Counterfactual simulations show that these frictions are meaningful and slow reallocation out of shrinking occupations.

Keywords: Occupation mobility; Technological change; Matching (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J23 J24 J62 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-03
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:crm:wpaper:26062

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