Full Citation

Title: Automation and Adaptation: Information Technology, Work Practices, and Labor Demand at Three Firms

Citation Type: Dissertation/Thesis

Publication Year: 2019

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Abstract: The use of information and communication technology to automate routine tasks involves two types of innovation: technological and organizational. Together, improvements in technological capabilities and complementary changes made by firms in the way they organize work and implement work practices constitute the conditions under which machines substitute for or complement human workers. Building on the prevailing model of routine-biased technical change and recent insights into organizational complementarities, I conduct three qualitative case studies in health care and real estate to assess the relationship between technology and firm-level labor demand. Unique combinations of technological innovation, organizational complementarity, and decision-making at each firm produce differential impacts for labor demand, with even similar technologies exhibiting quite different patterns of substitution for workers of all skill types. In addition, studying firm-level complementarities illuminates how and why the scope of the routine task may be growing, with particularly important implications for relatively higher skill workers.

Url: https://digitalcommons.du.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2546&context=etd

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Authors: Rockwell, Spencer, J

Institution: University of Denver

Department: Economics

Advisor: Markus Schneider, Kimon Valavanis

Degree: M.A.

Publisher Location: Colorado

Pages: 1-85

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Population Health and Health Systems

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