The historical role of technology in job polarization: lessons from ICT and firm-level data in Sweden

Abstract This paper examines the nexus between technology and job polarization using Swedish firm-level data for 2001–2015, including information on ICT investments (2009–2015) for a subsample of mostly large firms. Our results show that ICT devices increased both the share of high-wage occupations characterized by abstract tasks and the share of middle-wage occupations characterized by routine tasks. ICT devices also reduced the share of low-wage occupations characterized by service tasks. These results question the previously proposed link between ICT and job polarization as postulated by the theory of Routine-Biased Technological Change. We argue that skill upgrading still applies at the firm level.