Skill demand and the comparative advantage of age: Jobs tasks and earnings from the 1980s to the 2000s in Germany

Laura Romeu Gordo and Vegard Skirbekk

Labour Economics, 2013, vol. 22, issue C, 61-69

Abstract: We study the impact of rapid technological change on age and cohort variation in type of work and wages among German men for the 1986–2006 period. Using a task-based approach, we analyze the consequences that technological progress had on changes in the distribution of tasks performed by the men and the relative wages they received. Technological changes implied fewer physically demanding job tasks and a growing use of cognitive skills, particularly tasks where fluid cognitive abilities are important. A number of earlier physiological and cognitive studies suggest that younger workers have a comparative advantage in terms of physically demanding work and fluid cognitive abilities.

Keywords: Technological change; Task-based approach; Age variation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J14 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (22)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:labeco:v:22:y:2013:i:c:p:61-69

DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2012.09.003

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