Gendered wage effects of changes in job tasks: Evidence from Germany

Little is known about whether changes in job tasks due to technological progress affect personal wages and whether those changes in job tasks relate to the persistent gender wage gap in contemporary Western societies. Following the task-biased technological change approach, we analyze whether individuals who take on more non-routine job tasks characterized by a low automation risk (complex and autonomous tasks) are rewarded with higher wages. We separately analyze men and women and, due to the rigid German labor market, additionally account for job changes as a potential moderator. We use three-wave panel data covering a period of nine years from the German National Educational Panel Study.

Our results from fixed-effects regressions show substantial heterogeneity in the relationship between changes in non-routine job tasks and wages by gender and job change, which is masked when looking at average wage differentials by non-routine job tasks. While both genders benefit from increased task complexity in job changes, the impact is more pronounced for females, helping to slightly narrow the still persistent gender wage gap. However, when taking on more autonomous tasks in job changes, males experience significant benefits, further contributing to the widening of the gender wage gap. In essence, our findings underscore gender-specific monetary returns to increasing non-routine tasks, particularly highlighting the ability of male job changers to monetarize their newly assigned tasks. 

Joint work with Dr. Alexandra Wicht and Dr. Nora Müller.

Date

Venue

Registration