Where do workers from declining routine jobs go and does migration matter?
Using administrative panel data on the entire Finnish population, we study the occupational switching patterns of routine workers to different labor market states. We find that workers tend to move out from routine‐intensive occupations. The direction of the shift is nevertheless different between routine cognitive and routine manual workers. Routine manual workers are more likely to end up in low‐paying non‐routine manual jobs or become unemployed, while routine cognitive workers are more likely to move upwards to non‐routine cognitive jobs. Worker migration particularly to urban and highly industrialized regions seems to mitigate the negative labor market consequences of occupational polarization.
Published: 3.8.2017
JEL: J23, J62, R23
ISBN: 978-952-209-164-2 (pdf)
ISSN: 1795-1801 (pdf)
Publication (PDF)