Vahagn Jerbashian

Automation and Job Polarisation

Using data from 10 Western European countries, Vahagn Jerbashian provides evidence that recent improvements in IT and the subsequent fall in IT prices is associated with a lower share of employment in middle-wage occupations and a higher share of employment in high-wage occupations. Similar results hold within gender and age groups, with notable differences in these groups. For example, the share of employment in high-wage occupations among males has increased less than among females with the fall in IT prices. A possible explanation for this result is that the comparative advantage of performing tasks in medium- and high-wage occupations varies with gender. For example, males tend to be more endowed with hard motor skills (brawn) than females, and these skills are usually important in many of the medium-wage manufacturing occupations.

Mr Jerbashian’s main research interests are theoretical and empirical analysis of development and growth, knowledge and human capital accumulation, innovation and competition, and the economic impact of information and communication technologies.

Vahagn Jerbashian is an Assistant Professor (Lecturer) in Economics at the University of Barcelona as well as advisor to the Research Department of the Central Bank of Armenia. He has previously worked as a researcher at CERGE-EI in Prague and was a visiting scholar at Columbia University. He holds a PhD in Economics from CERGE-EI Prague as well as a PhD in Mathematics from the National Polytechnic University of Armenia in Yerevan.