M EASURING THE CONTENT AND METHODS OF WORK : A COMPREHENSIVE TASK FRAMEWORK

This paper aims to contribute to the development of a comprehensive framework of task indices which can be used to characterize the nature of work activity across different jobs. After discussing what we believe are important omissions in the literature, we propose a set of indices to measure the task content ( what people do at work) and methods ( how work is organised and done) across occupation-sector combinations. Our framework tries to cover all of the relevant aspects of work, placing a particular emphasis on the social aspect of the production process. This allows the identification of a detailed “tasks profile” for any job in the economy. For illustrative purposes, we introduce an application of our framework for European countries using existing international data sources and we highlight its usefulness for a more nuanced analysis of the distribution of tasks across jobs.

[1]  Enrique Fernández-Macías,et al.  Routine-biased technical change and job polarization in Europe , 2016 .

[2]  D. Deming,et al.  The Growing Importance of Social Skills in the Labor Market , 2017 .

[3]  D. Green,et al.  Has the Canadian Labour Market Polarized? , 2015 .

[4]  Daniel Oesch.  Welfare regimes and change in the employment structure: Britain, Denmark and Germany since 1990 , 2015 .

[5]  Enrique Fernández-Macías,et al.  test Drivers of recent job polarisation and upgrading in Europe: European Jobs Monitor 2014 , 2014 .

[6]  Donald Tomaskovic-Devey.  Transformation of the Employment Structure in the EU and USA, 1995–2007 , 2014 .

[7]  B. Matthes,et al.  Collecting information on job tasks—an instrument to measure tasks required at the workplace in a multi-topic survey , 2014 .

[8]  F. Green.  Skills and Skilled Work: An Economic and Social Analysis [IOE Research Briefing N°101] , 2013 .

[9]  David Autor.  The “task approach” to labor markets: an overview , 2013, SSRN Electronic Journal.

[10]  M. Handel.  OECD SOCIAL, EMPLOYMENT AND MIGRATION WORKING PAPERS, No. 143 TRENDS IN JOB SKILL DEMANDS IN OECD COUNTRIES , 2012 .

[11]  David Autor,et al.  Skills, Tasks and Technologies: Implications for Employment and Earnings , 2010 .

[12]  David Autor,et al.  Putting Tasks to the Test: Human Capital, Job Tasks, and Wages , 2009, Journal of Labor Economics.

[13]  A. Manning,et al.  Job Polarization in Europe , 2009 .

[14]  A. Blinder.  How Many U.S. Jobs Might Be Offshorable , 2007 .

[15]  A. Manning,et al.  Lousy and Lovely Jobs: The Rising Polarization of Work in Britain , 2007, The Review of Economics and Statistics.

[16]  Alexandra Spitz-Oener.  Technical Change, Job Tasks, and Rising Educational Demands: Looking outside the Wage Structure , 2006, Journal of Labor Economics.

[17]  Lawrence F. Katz,et al.  The Polarization of the U.S. Labor Market , 2006 .

[18]  F. Block,et al.  Social Foundations of Postindustrial Economies , 2001 .

[19]  Eve Caroli.  New technologies, organizational change and the skill bias: what do we know? , 2001 .

[20]  Edward E. Leamer,et al.  The Economic Geography of the Internet Age , 2001 .

[21]  W. Bodmer.  Principles of Scientific Management , 1993, FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.

[22]  Ian McLoughlin,et al.  Opening the black box: the relation between technology and work , 1986 .

[23]  H. Braverman.  Labor and Monopoly Capital , 1974 .

[24]  Eurofound.  What do Europeans do at Work? A Task-Based Analysis: European Jobs Monitor 2016 , 2016 .

[25]  Daniel Oesch.  European Social Policy Daniel Oesch since 1990 Welfare regimes and change in the employment structure : Britain , Denmark and Germany , 2014 .

[26]  Alan Manning,et al.  Explaining Job Polarization in Europe: The Roles of Technology, Globalization and Institutions , 2010 .

[27]  Richard J. Murnane,et al.  The New Division of Labor , 2004 .

[28]  NEW ENTERPRISE WORK PRACTICES AND THEIR LABOUR MARKET IMPLICATIONS , 2002 .