The Growing Importance of Social Tasks in High-Paying Occupations: Implications for Sorting

Guido Matias Cortes, Nir Jaimovich and Henry Siu

Journal of Human Resources, 2023, vol. 58, issue 5, 1429-1451

Abstract: We document that, since 1980, higher-paying occupations in the United States have experienced increases in the importance of tasks requiring social skills compared to lower-paying ones. Economic theory indicates that the occupational sorting of workers depends on their comparative advantage in performing occupational tasks. Hence, changes in the relative importance of tasks across occupations change sorting. We document that the increasing relative importance of social tasks in high-paying occupations can account for an important fraction of the increased sorting of women relative to men towards these occupations in recent decades.

JEL-codes: J16 J23 O33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
Note: DOI: https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.58.5.0121-11455R1
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:uwp:jhriss:v:58:y:2023:i:5:p:1429-1451

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