Project description
How production networks shape labour divisions
The division of labour has long been a debated topic, regarded by economists as a key driver of economic progress due to its benefits in terms of efficiency and specialisation during production. It has also been observed that this division is increasingly manifesting as production networks along supply chains, with firms fragmenting production processes. The ERC-funded DIVISION project will investigate the implications of this shift and provide the necessary frameworks and evidence regarding the deepening of production networks and their impact on labour divisions. To achieve this, the project will focus on the effects of these changes on efficiency, equity, and the relationships among skill, earnings, and inequality.
Objective
The division of labor - breaking down work into tasks so that workers can specialize in a subset of tasks - is believed by many economists to be key to economic progress, by providing efficiency gains when producing goods and services. A key feature of the modern economy is that the division of labor is increasingly taking place between firms - in a production network - as firms fragment production along the supply chain, both within and across borders (Johnson and Noguera, 2017).
This project aims to provide new frameworks and novel evidence on how deepening production networks shapes the division of labor within and across countries, with particular emphasis on labor market implications of production networks. Specifically, DIVISION will investigate how production networks jointly shape efficiency and equity: What are the economic effects of deepening production networks on efficiency, specialization and growth? And what are the effect on wages, the skill premium (skilled relative to unskilled wages) and earnings inequality? This comprehensive and ambitious analysis includes developing new methods and economic frameworks as well as providing new datasets and novel empirical evidence.
Economic growth has slowed down since the 2007-08 global financial crisis, European firms are getting older and less dynamic and economic inequality is increasing in many parts of the world. A rigorous analysis of the role of production networks for efficiency and equity is therefore urgently needed to address today’s main societal challenges.
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Topic(s)
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC GrantsHost institution
0484 OSLO
Norway