Changes in the Functional Structure of Firms and the Demand for Skill
Year: 2004
Type: article
Abstract: We analyze recent changes in the occupational structure of French manufacturing firms. Firms employ a greater proportion of engineers working on the design and marketing of new products and a lower proportion of high‐skill experts working in administration‐related activities. Firms have also reduced the share of production‐related activities at both the levels of high‐skill and low‐skill workers. We develop a labor demand model that shows the role played by technological change. New technologies make it possible to allocate more human resources to the activities that are the most difficult to program in advance.
Source: Journal of Labor Economics
DOI: 10.1086/383110
Authors: Eric Maurin, David Thesmar
Institution: Centre de Recherche en Économie et Statistique
Language: English
Subfield: Economics and Econometrics
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1495744381