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Completed project

Changing health and skills requirements in the labour market?

Project period August 2018–June 2022
Project employer Norges forskningsråd
Project nr. 10268 / NFR: 280307
Project leader Erling Barth
photo of people on job hunt

Photo: Colourbox.com.

Project Approach

This project studies recent changes in skills and health requirements facing workers. Recent developments, such as technological change, organizational change, and globalization may change the composition of jobs in terms of skills and health requirments.

The focus of this project is on marginal workers, i.e. worker with low formal skills and/or with health challenges:

  • Which of these underlying develpments work for, and which work against, the inclusion of marginal workers, and who are more vulnerable to change, workers with disabilities, weak health or workers with low skills?

For instance; while restructuring from globalization may affect workers with low skills and health challenges negatively, the robot revolution may change job requirements to the advantage of workers with certain health challenges positively.

At the same time, and partly as a response to the same underlying forces, institutional aspects of the labour market are changing. Non-typical labour contracts appear to be on the rise. Domestic outsourcing creates several layers of organisational units between the worker and the employer or principal, self-employed workers may do tasks that were previously undertaken by employed workers, and various forms of temporary contracts are employed to limit the contractual obligations of the employer.

On the one hand, these forms of contracts may be seen as promoting flexibility and innovation, and as providing stepping stones for marginal workers. On the other hand, they may stimulate segregation into a two-tier labour market:

  • Who are impacted by the changes in contractual arrangements, and how is the sorting in and out of non-typical contracts for workers with low skills or health and disability challenges?

The project is also part of CORE – Centre for Research on Gender Equality at the Institute for Social Research.

Seminar

  • Labor Demand in Crisis and Recovery. Covid 19: Research in the Wake of the Pandemic, digital seminar arranged by The Research Council of Norway, Mohn Foundation and Norwegian Cancer Society, 24. march 2021.

Participants

ParticipantDegree PhoneE-mail
Erling Barth Research Professor Dr. polit. +47 930 91 410 erling.barth@samfunnsforskning.no
Harald Dale-Olsen Research Professor Dr. polit. +47 482 83 527 +47 958 08 463 harald.dale-olsen@samfunnsforskning.no
Inés Hardoy Research Professor Dr. polit. +47 472 45 113 ines.hardoy@samfunnsforskning.no
Marianne Røed Research Professor Dr. polit. +47 480 39 594 marianne.roed@samfunnsforskning.no
Marte Strøm Research Professor PhD +47 408 85 333 marte.strom@samfunnsforskning.no
Janis Umblijs Senior Research Fellow PhD +47 925 27 810 janis.umblijs@samfunnsforskning.no
Kjersti Misje Østbakken Research Director, Work and Welfare PhD +47 991 62 556 k.m.ostbakken@samfunnsforskning.no
Richard Freeman (Harvard University og NBER)
Idunn Brekke (Nova, OsloMet)

Publications

Papers

Chutes and Ladders? Job Opportunities for Generation COVID
Erling Barth, Harald Dale-Olsen, Pål Schøne, and Kjersti Misje Østbakken 
IZA Discussion Paper # 14530

How Robots Change Within-Firm Wage Inequality
Erling Barth, Marianne Røed, Pål Schøne, and Janis Umlijs
IZA Discussion paper # 13605

Twisting the Demand Curve: Digitalization and the Older Workforce
Erling Barth, James C Davis, Richard B Freeman, and Kristina McElheran
NBER Working paper # 28094

  • Hall, Caroline; Hardoy, Ines & von Simson, Kristine (2024). Policies for young adults with reduced work capacity. Labour market impact in Sweden and Norway. Journal of Population Economics. 37(1), p. 1–33. doi: 10.1007/s00148-024-00999-9.
  • Barth, Erling; Reisel, Liza & Østbakken, Kjersti Misje (2023). The Equality Hurdle: Resolving the Welfare State Paradox. Work, Employment and Society. p. 1–21. doi: 10.1177/09500170231155293. Full text in Research Archive
  • Hardoy, Ines & von Simson, Kristine (2023). Pressing the right button—labour market odds for youth with mental illness. Journal of Education and Work. 36(7-8), p. 592–607. doi: 10.1080/13639080.2023.2289952. Full text in Research Archive
  • Barth, Erling; Finseraas, Henning; Kjelsrud, Anders & Moene, Karl Ove (2022). Hit by the Silk Road: how wage coordination in Europe mitigates the China shock. The Scandinavian Journal of Economics. doi: 10.1111/sjoe.12489. Full text in Research Archive
  • Barth, Erling; Davis, James C.; Freeman, Richard B. & McElheran, Kristina (2022). Twisting the demand curve: Digitalization and the older workforce. Journal of Econometrics. doi: 10.1016/j.jeconom.2021.12.003.
  • Barth, Erling & Østbakken, Kjersti Misje (2021). Fortsatt polarisering i det norske arbeidsmarkedet? Søkelys på arbeidslivet. 38(1), p. 23–40. doi: 10.18261/issn.1504-7989-2021-01-02. Full text in Research Archive
  • Schøne, Pål & Strøm, Marte (2021). International labor market competition and wives’ labor supply responses. Labour Economics. 70(June). doi: 10.1016/j.labeco.2021.101983. Full text in Research Archive
  • Barth, Erling; Cools, Sara & Strøm, Marte (2019). Geographic variation in social mobility: Polarization, migration and mothers' labour force participation. Tidsskrift for samfunnsforskning. 60(3), p. 300–308. doi: 10.18261/issn.1504-291X-2019-03-08. Full text in Research Archive

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  • Barth, Erling; Dale-Olsen, Harald; Schøne, Pål & Østbakken, Kjersti Misje (2021). Chutes and ladders? Job Opportunities for Generation Covid . IZA Institute of labor economics.
  • Barth, Erling; Davis, James Creece; Freeman, Richard B. & McElheran, Kristina (2020). Twisting the Demand Curve: Digitalization and the Older Workforce . NBER.
  • Criscuolo, Chiara; Hijzen, Alexander; Schwellnus, Cyrille; Barth, Erling; Fabling, Richard & Fialho, Priscilla [Show all 10 contributors for this article] (2020). Workforce composition, productivity and pay: the role of firms in wage inequality. OECD.
  • Barth, Erling; Røed, Marianne; Schøne, Pål & Umblijs, Janis (2020). How Robots Change Within-Firm Wage Inequality. IZA Institute of Labor Economics.
  • Schøne, Pål & Strøm, Marte (2019). International Labor Market Competition and Spousal Labor Supply Responses . IZA Institute of Labor economics.

View all works in Cristin

  • von Simson, Kristine; Hall, Caroline & Hardoy, Ines (2024). Policies for young adults with reduced work capacity. Labour market impact in Sweden and Norway. Journal of Population Economics.
  • Barth, Erling; Røed, Marianne; Schøne, Pål & Umblijs, Janis (2023). Robots and employment.
  • Strøm, Marte; von Simson, Kristine & Østbakken, Kjersti Misje (2022). Temporary employment reform and employment probabilities.
  • Umblijs, Janis; Barth, Erling; Schøne, Pål & Røed, Marianne (2022). Robots and Employment a Firm Level Approach.
  • Umblijs, Janis; Barth, Erling; Røed, Marianne & Schøne, Pål (2022). How Robots Change Within-Firm Wage Inequality .
  • Strøm, Marte; von Simson, Kristine & Østbakken, Kjersti Misje (2022). Temporary employment reforms and employment probabilities.
  • Barth, Erling; Schøne, Pål; Dale-Olsen, Harald & Østbakken, Kjersti Misje (2021). The rise and fall - labor demand during COVID-19.
  • Barth, Erling; Røed, Marianne; Schøne, Pål & Umblijs, Janis (2020). Robots and employment.
  • Østbakken, Kjersti Misje (2020). Where did all the routine workers go? Occupational mobility, labor market exits and wage Growth in the era of automation.
  • Strøm, Marte & Østbakken, Kjersti Misje (2020). Temporary work reform - effects on job probabilities and earnings.
  • Østbakken, Kjersti Misje (2020). Where did all the routine workers go? Occupational mobility, labor market extis and wage growth in the era of automation.
  • Østbakken, Kjersti Misje (2020). Where did all the routine workers go? Occupational mobility, labor market exits and wage Growth in the era of automation.
  • von Simson, Kristine (2019). Effekter av arbeidsmarkedstiltak mv - norske erfaringer.
  • von Simson, Kristine (2019). Effekter av arbeidsmarkedstiltak - norske erfaringer.

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Tags: Working Life
Published June 29, 2018 12:29 PM - Last modified Feb. 26, 2024 1:11 PM