Skill-Biased Technological Change and Job Polarization and Evidences from The Turkish Labor Market

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is twofold. The first is to present a historical perspective for the theoretical and conceptual change experienced in skill-biased technological change. The second is to test whether the job polarization hypothesis would be confirmed for Turkey. In this study, which is a qualitative analysis, using descriptive analysis method employment data obtained from ILOSTAT database between the years 1982-2019 for Turkey has been organized, categorized, summarized and interpreted. A cause-effect relationship has been established between the findings and comparisons have been made between the cases. In the descriptive analysis, it has been seen that Turkey has been experiencing a significant job polarization for the last two decades. After 2000, the share of high-skilled and low-skilled occupations in total employment has increased, and the share of medium-skilled occupations has decreased in Turkey. This situation is considered to be due to the technology is complementary for the high-skilled labor and the new job opportunities created by the growth of the service sector for the low-skilled.

Keywords

• Skill-Biased Technological Change
• Job Polarization
• Routine-Biased Technological Change

Beceri Yanlı Teknolojik Değişim ve İşgücü Kutuplaşması ve Türkiye İşgücü Piyasasından Kanıtlar

Öz

Bu makalenin amacı iki yönlüdür. Birincisi, beceri yanlı teknolojik değişimde yaşanan teorik ve kavramsal değişim için tarihsel bir perspektif sunmaktır. İkincisi, Türkiye için işgücü kutuplaşması hipotezinin geçerli olup olmadığını test etmektir. Nitel bir analiz olan bu çalışmada, betimsel analiz yöntemi kullanılarak ILOSTAT veri tabanından elde edilen 1982-2019 yılları arası Türkiye’ye ait istihdam verileri düzenlenmiş, sınıflandırılmış, özetlenmiş ve yorumlanmıştır. Elde edilen bulgular arasında neden-sonuç ilişkisi kurularak olgular arasında karşılaştırmalar yapılmıştır. Yapılan betimsel analiz sonucunda Türkiye'de son yirmi yılda belirgin bir işgücü kutuplaşması yaşandığı görülmüştür. Türkiye’de 2000 yılı sonrasında yüksek-vasıflı ve düşük-vasıflı mesleklerin toplam istihdam içindeki payı artmış ve orta-vasıflı mesleklerin payı azalmıştır. Bu durumun yüksek-vasıflılar için teknolojinin tamamlayıcı olmasından, düşük vasıflılar için hizmet sektörünün büyümesiyle yaratılan yeni iş fırsatlarından kaynaklandığı değerlendirilmektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Beceri Yanlı Teknolojik Değişim
• İşgücü Kutuplaşması
• Rutin Yanlı Teknolojik Değişim

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