register
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

https://www.chicagobooth.edu/faculty/directory/g/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).

article(s)

  • How is new technology changing job design? Updated

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

    Michael GibbsSergei Bazylik, August 2022
    The IT revolution has had dramatic effects on jobs and the labor market. Many routine manual and cognitive tasks have been automated, replacing workers. By contrast, new technologies complement and create new non-routine cognitive and social tasks, making work in such tasks more productive, and creating new jobs. This has polarized labor markets: while low-skill jobs stagnated, there are fewer and lower-paid jobs for middle-skill workers, and higher pay for high-skill workers, increasing wage inequality. Advances in AI may accelerate computers’ ability to perform cognitive tasks, heightening concerns about future automation of even high-skill jobs.
    MoreLess