Embodied and disembodied technological change: the sectoral patterns of job-creation and job-destruction
G. Dosi, Mariacristina Piva, E. Virgillito & Marco Vivarelli
#2019-020
This paper addresses, both theoretically and empirically, the sectoral
patterns of job creation and job destruction in order to distinguish the
alternative effects of embodied vs disembodied technological change
operating into a vertically connected economy. Disembodied technological
change turns out to positively affect employment dynamics in the
"upstream'' sectors, while expansionary investment does so in the
"downstream'' industries. Conversely, the replacement of obsolete
capital vintages tends to exert a negative impact on labour demand,
although this effect turns out to be statistically less robust.
Keywords: Innovation, disembodied and capital-embodied technological
change, employment, job-creation, job-destruction, sectoral
interdependencies
JEL Classification: O14, O31, O33