Changing workplaces in the knowledge-based economy : evidence from micro data

Abstract

This thesis includes four essays on various aspects of how workplaces have been changing in recent decades, all being characterized by the shift towards knowledge-based activities in production and the extensive spread of information and communication technologies at the workplace. The content of Chapter 1 is twofold. It includes a descriptive analysis that establishes the stylized facts about trends in occupational skill requirements in West Germany since 1979. It then provides evidence on the role workplace computerization has had in this development. Chapter 2 investigates the relationship between computer usage at the workplace and wages. This analysis is extended by the aspect of organizational changes within companies in Chapter 3. Chapter 4, in contrast to the previous chapters, focuses on managers as a particular group of employees that has been gaining steadily in importance in terms of employment in recent decades. This chapter investigates the incentive effects of managerial ownership. The analyses in Chapters 1-3 are based on individual-level data, whereas the analysis in Chapter 4 is based on a company-level data set