IZA World of Labor - Michael Gibbs

Michael Gibbs

University of Chicago, USA, and IZA, Germany

I am very glad to participate in this project. It is an important way to improve dissemination and accessibility of labor economics research to the public and policymakers. Labor markets are changing dramatically because of globalization and technological change, making this goal all the more important

IZA World of Labor role

Author

Current position

Clinical Professor of Economics, University of Chicago Booth School of Business, USA

Research interest

Human resources, organizational design, personnel economics, wages and incentives, performance evaluation, staff management

Website

http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/michael.gibbs/

Past positions

Assistant Professor, Harvard Business School (1988–1993); Visiting Professor, Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques (Sciences-Po), Paris (2004–2006); Visiting Professor, Aarhus School of Business, Denmark (2004–2005, 2010)

Qualifications

PhD Economics, University of Chicago, 1989

Selected publications

“A field experiment in motivating employee ideas.” Review of Economics and Statistics (Forthcoming) (with S. Neckermann and C. Siemroth).
“An empirical analysis of post-merger organizational integration.” Scandinavian Journal of Economics 118:3 (2016): 463–493 (with K. Ierulli and V. Smeets).
“Why are jobs designed the way they are?” Research in Labor Economics 30 (2010): 107–154 (with A. Levenson and C. Zoghi).
“Determinants and effects of subjectivity in incentives.” The Accounting Review 79:2 (2004): 409–436 (with K. Merchant, M. Vargus, and W. Van der Stede).
The internal economics of the firm: Evidence from personnel data.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 109:4 (1994): 881–919 (with G. Baker and B. Holmstrom).

- Behavioral and personnel economics
- Labor markets and institutions
How is new technology changing job design?

Machines’ ability to perform cognitive, physical, and social tasks is accelerating, dramatically changing jobs and labor markets

Michael Gibbs, March 2017

The information technology revolution has had dramatic effects on jobs and the labor market. Many routine and manual tasks have been automated, replacing workers. By contrast, new technologies complement non-routine, cognitive, and social tasks, making work in such tasks more productive. These effects have polarized labor markets: While low-skill jobs have stagnated, there are fewer and lower paid jobs for middle-skill workers, and higher pay for high-skill workers, increasing wage inequality. Advances in artificial intelligence may be accelerating computers’ ability to perform cognitive tasks, heightening concerns about automation of even high-skill jobs.
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