Occupational Autonomy and Wage Divergence: Evidence From European Survey Data
研究了西欧国家职业间工资分化现象，提出职业自主性差异是解释工资增长分化的新因素，发现自主性越高的职业工资增长越快，且这一效应在监控和外包较多的行业及最低工资下降的国家更显著。
ABSTRACT Wages across occupations in Western Europe have diverged, resulting in increased wage inequality. However, existing theories such as routine‐biased technological change (RBTC) or task offshoring fail to explain this trend. We propose a new explanation based on occupational autonomy. Autonomy measures workers' control and influence over their work process based on the tasks required in an occupation. Analysing individual‐level data from the EU Survey of Income and Living Conditions, we reveal a rising autonomy wage premium, that is, higher wage growth for occupations with higher autonomy, which accurately predicts the observed occupational wage divergence. We also find that the autonomy premium increases more rapidly in countries and industries with greater employee monitoring and outsourcing, as well as in countries with declining minimum wages. These findings imply that low‐autonomy occupations have been disadvantaged by recent socioeconomic trends that have altered power relations in the workplace. Notably, our analysis does not support previous explanations for occupational wage trends based on RBTC or task offshoring.