Journal Article

The objective of this article is to highlight the actors involved in the articulation between competence management and organization projects. Our research is based on a qualitative approach, centered on a multiple case study conducted in four companies organized by project and operating in various sectors: IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Arkopharma and Temex. We propose a classification of actors into three categories: the "strategists", the "organizers" and "recipients". Also, in light of the data collected and analysis, we conclude that the "organizers" players play a major role in the joint dynamics of skills and projects. [googletranslate_en]

We study the effect of minimum wage increases on employment in automatable jobs – jobs in which employers may find it easier to substitute machines for people – focusing on low-skilled workers for whom such substitution may be spurred by minimum wage increases. Based on CPS data from 1980 to 2015, we find that increasing the minimum wage decreases significantly the share of automatable employment held by low-skilled workers and increases the likelihood that low-skilled workers in automatable jobs become nonemployed or employed in worse jobs. The average effects mask significant heterogeneity by industry and demographic group, including substantive adverse effects for older, low-skilled workers in manufacturing. We also find some evidence that the same changes improve job opportunities for higher-skilled workers. The findings imply that groups often ignored in the minimum wage literature are in fact quite vulnerable to employment changes and job loss because of automation following a minimum wage increase.

This article reviews and advances existing literature concerning whether the workers in the on-demand economy are employees, independent contractors, or a hybrid category. Building my argument by drawing on data collected from Bureau of Labor Statistics, Edelman Intelligence, Elance-oDesk, Ernst & Young, Freelancers Union, Human-Resources, NPR/Marist, PersolKelly, Pew Research Center, and Upwork, I performed analyses and made estimates regarding the likely impact of some workers preferring flexible contract-based roles over traditional permanent full-time roles (%), issues freelancers are concerned about (%), how benefits differ for part-time, full-time, and contract workers (%), and reasons for using contingent workers (%).

Is the third industrial revolution indeed driven by rising payoffs to skill? This simple but important question has gone unanswered because conventional models of earnings inequality are based on exceedingly weak measurements of skill. By attaching occupational skill measurements to the 1979–2010 Current Population Surveys, it becomes possible to adjudicate competing accounts of the changing returns to cognitive, creative, technical, and social skill. The well-known increase in between-occupation inequality is fully explained when such skills are taken into account, while returns to schooling prove to be quite stable once correlated changes in workplace skills are parsed out. The most important trend, however, is a precipitous increase in the wage payoff to synthesis, critical thinking, and related “analytic skills.” The payoff to technical and creative skills, often touted in discussions of the third industrial revolution, is shown to be less substantial.

The Internet innovation platforms have gained momentum since early 2000. These intermediation structures link together business solution fails to R & D with their users worldwide. The challenge posted on the platform is rewarded with a bonus if selected. The purpose of the article is to analyze the contractual arrangements on a specific platform (InnoCentive), whether in intellectual property or assistance and technical support. It is also to understand how these devices respond to the information asymmetry problem and uncertainty inherent in technology transfer. [googletranslate_en]

Where does adaptation to innovation take place? I present evidence on the role of agglomeration economies in the application of new knowledge to production. All else equal, workers are more likely to be observed in new work in locations initially dense in college graduates and industry variety. This pattern is consistent with economies from the geographic concentration of factors and markets related to technological adaptation. A main contribution is a new measure, based on revisions to occupation classifications, that characterizes cross-sectional differences across cities in technological adaptation. Worker-level results also provide new evidence on the skill bias of recent innovations.

I project the near-term future of work to ask whether job losses induced by artificial intelligence will increase the appeal of populist politics. The paper first explains how computers and machine learning automate workplace tasks. Automated tasks help to both create and eliminate jobs and I show why job elimination centres in blue-collar and clerical work---impacts similar to those of manufactured imports and offshored services. I sketch the near-term evolution of three technologies aimed at blue-collar and clerical occupations: autonomous long-distance trucks, automated customer service responses, and industrial robotics. I estimate that in the next 5-7 years, the jobs lost to each of these technologies will be modest but visible. I then outline the structure of populist politics. Populist surges are rare but a populist candidate who pits 'the people' (truck drivers, call centre operators, factory operatives) against 'the elite' (software developers, etc.) will be mining many of the US regional and education fault lines that were part of the 2016 presidential election.

Using new direct measures of numeracy and literacy skills among 85,875 adults in 17 Western countries, we find that foreign-born adults have lower mean skills than native-born adults of the same age (16 to 64) in all of the examined countries. The gaps are small and vary substantially between countries. Multilevel models reveal that immigrant populations’ demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, employment, and language proficiency explain about half of the cross-national variance of numeracy and literacy skills gaps. Differences in origin countries’ average education level also account for variation in the size of the immigrant-native skills gap. The more protective labor markets in immigrant-receiving countries are, the less well immigrants are skilled in numeracy and literacy compared to natives. For those who migrate before their teens (the 1.5 generation), access to an education system that accommodates migrants’ special needs is crucial. The 1 and 1.5 generation have smaller numeracy and literacy skills gaps in more ethnically diverse societies

This article reflects on some of the major changes in the ways that people are working today, changes often driven by a preference for greater autonomy and choice, but also to work on a sharing, collaborative or networked basis. Many of the growing numbers of independent professionals are attracted by these ways of working. Developments in Information and Communication Technology have been critical, especially in enabling services, including professional services, to be delivered via internet platforms. This has created, in effect, new forms of intermediation and increasingly complex work relationships. These developments have often proved very controversial, as instanced by the disputes surrounding Uber, the international, internet-based taxi provider. Many of these changes also raise issues of accountability and work quality, along with creating new patterns of work relationships. Inevitably, the changes also highlight the role of regulation, which is the main focus of this article. The topic is explored against a backdrop of much recent deregulation, challenges to so-called 'red tape' and laissez faire policies. The myriad of disputes and litigation involving Uber is examined and reflected upon. There are, of course, many differences between the taxi drivers of Uber and the designers, journalists, engineers and consultants, typical of independent professional working, but there are also some key parallels and experiences that provide a cautionary tale!