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Putting tasks to the test: the case of Germany
[journal article]
Abstract The demand for skills has changed throughout recent decades, favouring high-skilled workers that perform abstract, problem-solving tasks. At the same time, research shows that occupation-specific skills are beneficial for labour market success. This article explores (1) how education, workplace char... view more
The demand for skills has changed throughout recent decades, favouring high-skilled workers that perform abstract, problem-solving tasks. At the same time, research shows that occupation-specific skills are beneficial for labour market success. This article explores (1) how education, workplace characteristics and occupations shape job task requirements, (2) how within-occupation job task content relates to wages, and (3) whether these relationships vary across types of tasks due to their presumably varying degrees of occupational specificity. Using worker-level data from Germany from 2011-2012 the article shows that a large part of task content is determined by occupations, but that task requirements also differ systematically within occupations with workers' educational levels and workplace characteristics. Moreover, differences in task usage within occupations are robust predictors of wage differences between workers. Finally, the results suggest that non-routine manual tasks have a higher occupational specificity than abstract and routine tasks, and that manually skilled workers can generate positive returns on their skills in their specific fields of activity.... view less
Keywords
education; occupation; wage; employee; qualification; labor market; labor; wage difference; Federal Republic of Germany
Classification
Labor Market Policy
Occupational Research, Occupational Sociology
Free Keywords
education; job tasks; occupational specificity; wages; worker-level
Document language
English
Publication Year
2019
Page/Pages
p. 122-135
Journal
Social Inclusion, 7 (2019) 3
Issue topic
Types of education, achievement and labour market integration over the life course
ISSN
2183-2803
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed