An Investigation into Employment Polarization in Developed and Developing Economies
Evidence for the Period 2012–2022
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33834/bkr.v12i1.400Keywords:
Job polarization, Labor market, Digital economy, Panel dataAbstract
This paper theoretically and empirically investigates job polarization in a selected group of developed and developing economies from 2012 to 2022. The research analyzes the main factors influencing this phenomenon, including technological changes, globalization, offshoring, and structural change, represented by the share of the manufacturing industry in GDP. To this end, an econometric approach based on panel data is employed, allowing the identification of the determinants of labor market polarization. The results indicate that while technological advances, globalization, and offshoring have intensified polarization by increasing the demand for high- and low-skilled jobs to the detriment of medium-skilled ones, the share of the manufacturing industry in GDP has had the opposite effect, reducing this phenomenon. These findings underscore the importance of public policies aimed at workforce retraining and strengthening the industrial sector as a strategy to mitigate the negative impacts of job polarization.
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