Low-skill jobs and routine tasks specialization: new insights from Italian provinces

Abstract

This paper analyzes the relation between specialization in routine tasks and the growth of low-skill jobs in Italian provinces. At this aim we use data of the Labour Force Survey (RCFL-ISTAT) integrated with information about the Italian provinces’ specialization in routine tasks derived from the Occupational Information Network (O*NET). Following the empirical strategy proposed by Autor and Dorn (2013), we find the following results. First, in the period between 2004 and 2017, the routine tasks specialization leads to a significant increase in the growth of low-skill/low-wage occupations at province level. Second, if we focus on university-educated workers, the impact of provinces’ specialization in routine tasks on the growth of low-skill/low wage jobs slightly increases. This result suggests that the local employment specialization in routine tasks might be also associated with increasing over-education patterns in Italy. Finally, our findings are robust to an econometric strategy that controls for endogeneity issues.