IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/aea/aejmac/v14y2022i1p355-89.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Offshoring, Automation, Low-Skilled Immigration, and Labor Market Polarization

Author

Listed:
  • Federico S. Mandelman
  • Andrei Zlate

Abstract

We show that the observed polarization of employment toward the high- and low-skill occupations disappears when only native workers are considered. Instead, low-skilled immigration explains employment growth at the low tail of the skill distribution. Moreover, while employment rose, wages remained subdued in low-skill occupations. A data-disciplined structural model accounts for this evidence: Offshoring and automation negatively affect middle-skill occupations but enhance employment and wages for the high-skilled. Low-skill employment is sheltered from offshoring and automation, as it consists of manual, non-tradable services. However, low-skilled immigration depresses low-skill wages and encourages native workers to move into skilled occupations through training.

Suggested Citation

  • Federico S. Mandelman & Andrei Zlate, 2022. "Offshoring, Automation, Low-Skilled Immigration, and Labor Market Polarization," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 14(1), pages 355-389, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejmac:v:14:y:2022:i:1:p:355-89
    DOI: 10.1257/mac.20180205
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.aeaweb.org/doi/10.1257/mac.20180205
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://doi.org/10.3886/E118722V1
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.aeaweb.org/doi/10.1257/mac.20180205.appx
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.aeaweb.org/doi/10.1257/mac.20180205.ds
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to AEA members and institutional subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1257/mac.20180205?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nir Jaimovich & Henry E. Siu, 2020. "Job Polarization and Jobless Recoveries," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 102(1), pages 129-147, March.
    2. Hansen, Gary D., 1985. "Indivisible labor and the business cycle," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 309-327, November.
    3. Julie L. Hotchkiss & Myriam Quispe-Agnoli & Fernando Rios-Avila, 2012. "The wage impact of undocumented workers," FRB Atlanta Working Paper 2012-04, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
    4. David H. Autor & David Dorn, 2013. "The Growth of Low-Skill Service Jobs and the Polarization of the US Labor Market," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(5), pages 1553-1597, August.
    5. Novy, Dennis, 2006. "Is the Iceberg Melting Less Quickly? International Trade Costs after World War II," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 764, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
    6. Rogerson, Richard, 1988. "Indivisible labor, lotteries and equilibrium," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 3-16, January.
    7. Robert Warren & John Robert Warren, 2013. "Unauthorized Immigration to the United States: Annual Estimates and Components of Change, by State, 1990 to 2010," International Migration Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(2), pages 296-329, June.
    8. Andreas Beerli & Giovanni Peri, 2015. "The Labor Market Effects of Opening the Border: Evidence from Switzerland," NBER Working Papers 21319, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. ., 2020. "Foreign direct investment and transnational corporations," Chapters, in: Evolutionary Spatial Economics, chapter 22, pages 462-496, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    10. Cavenaile, Laurent, 2021. "Offshoring, computerization, labor market polarization and top income inequality," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mann, Katja & Pozzoli, Dario, 2022. "Automation and Low-Skill Labor," IZA Discussion Papers 15791, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Wang, Linhui & Cao, Zhanglu & Dong, Zhiqing, 2023. "Are artificial intelligence dividends evenly distributed between profits and wages? Evidence from the private enterprise survey data in China," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 342-356.
    3. Javed, Mohsin, 2023. "Robots, Natives and Immigrants in US local labor markets," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    4. Brey, Björn, 2024. "The effect of recent technological change on US immigration policy," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 227(C).
    5. Ghodsi, Mahdi & Stehrer, Robert & Barišić, Antea, 2024. "Which migrant jobs are linked with the adoption of novel technologies, robotisation, and digitalisation?," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    6. Jin, Xin & Ma, Baojie & Zhang, Haifeng, 2023. "Impact of fast internet access on employment: Evidence from a broadband expansion in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    7. Jiang, Zhe (Jasmine), 2023. "‘Multinational Firms’ Sourcing Decisions and Wage Inequality: A Dynamic Analysis," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    8. Antea Barišić & Mahdi Ghodsi & Michael Landesmann, 2024. "Technological Push and Pull Factors of Bilateral Migration," wiiw Working Papers 242, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    9. Mann, Katja & Pozzoli, Dario, 2024. "Robots and immigration," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 227(C).
    10. Michal Burzynski, 2024. "Spatial and Occupational Mobility of Workers Due to Automation," LISER Working Paper Series 2024-04, Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER).
    11. Patel, Pankaj C., 2023. "Automation vulnerability, voting, and self-employment," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 19(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Masao Fukui & Emi Nakamura & Jón Steinsson, 2023. "Women, Wealth Effects, and Slow Recoveries," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 15(1), pages 269-313, January.
    2. Mandelman, Federico S., 2016. "Labor market polarization and international macroeconomic dynamics," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 1-16.
    3. Nir Jaimovich, 2015. "The Research Agenda: Nir Jaimovich on The changing nature of business cycles," EconomicDynamics Newsletter, Review of Economic Dynamics, vol. 16(2), November.
    4. Jochen Mankart & Rigas Oikonomou, 2017. "Household Search and the Aggregate Labour Market," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 84(4), pages 1735-1788.
    5. Raphael Bergoeing & Norman V. Loayza & Facundo Piguillem, 2016. "The Whole is Greater than the Sum of Its Parts: Complementary Reforms to Address Microeconomic Distortions," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 30(2), pages 268-305.
    6. Aleksandar Vasilev, 2015. "Welfare gains from the adoption of proportional taxation in a general-equilibrium model with a grey economy: the case of Bulgaria’s 2008 flat tax reform," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 48(2), pages 169-185, May.
    7. Kevin X. D. Huang & Zheng Liu, 2004. "Multiple stages of processing and the quantity anomaly in international business cycle models," Working Papers 04-8, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
    8. Federico Di Pace & Matthias Hertweck, 2019. "Labor Market Frictions, Monetary Policy, and Durable Goods," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 32, pages 274-304, April.
    9. David Hémous & Morten Olsen, 2022. "The Rise of the Machines: Automation, Horizontal Innovation, and Income Inequality," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 14(1), pages 179-223, January.
    10. Robert E. Hall, 2007. "Cyclical movements along the labor supply function," Monograph, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, number 52.
    11. Kevin x.d. Huang & Jie Chen & Zhe Li & Jianfei Sun, 2014. "Financial Conditions and Slow Recoveries," Vanderbilt University Department of Economics Working Papers 14-00004, Vanderbilt University Department of Economics.
    12. Hansen, Gary D & Imrohoroglu, Ayse, 1992. "The Role of Unemployment Insurance in an Economy with Liquidity Constraints and Moral Hazard," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(1), pages 118-142, February.
    13. Lars Ljungqvist, 2002. "How Do Lay--off Costs Affect Employment?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 112(482), pages 829-853, October.
    14. Kuroda, Sachiko & Yamamoto, Isamu, 2008. "Estimating Frisch labor supply elasticity in Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 566-585, December.
    15. Aubhik Khan & Julia K. Thomas, 2007. "Inventories and the Business Cycle: An Equilibrium Analysis of ( S , s ) Policies," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 97(4), pages 1165-1188, September.
    16. Ireland, Peter N., 2004. "A method for taking models to the data," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 28(6), pages 1205-1226, March.
    17. Francesco Vona & Giovanni Marin & Davide Consoli, 2019. "Measures, drivers and effects of green employment: evidence from US local labor markets, 2006–2014," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 19(5), pages 1021-1048.
    18. Gourio, Francois & Kashyap, Anil K, 2007. "Investment spikes: New facts and a general equilibrium exploration," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(Supplemen), pages 1-22, September.
    19. Matteo Iacoviello & Fabio Schiantarelli & Scott Schuh, 2011. "Input And Output Inventories In General Equilibrium," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 52(4), pages 1179-1213, November.
    20. Garratt, Rod & Keister, Todd & Qin, Cheng-Zhong & Shell, Karl, 2002. "Equilibrium Prices When the Sunspot Variable Is Continuous," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 107(1), pages 11-38, November.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F16 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Labor Market Interactions
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • M53 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Training

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:aea:aejmac:v:14:y:2022:i:1:p:355-89. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Michael P. Albert (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aeaaaea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.