Job Postings and Patents

TL;DR

This analysis examines the development and spread of disruptive technologies and their effects on jobs at various skill levels and regions.

Transcript

[MUSIC] This is about job postings and patents, and I'll largely talk about a paper with Nick on that subject. So the idea is to construct text-based measures of exposure to specific disruptive technologies at the firm, patent, and job level going back to 2002. And then to use these novel data to study the spread of new technologies across firms, r... Read More

Key Insights

• ❓ Disruptive technologies are geographically concentrated, with Silicon Valley and the Northeast Corridor being significant centers of development.
• 😒 The use of disruptive technologies spreads across regions and occupations over time.
• 💨 Low-skilled jobs associated with these technologies spread out faster than high-skilled jobs, leading to potentially unequal impacts across regions.
• ✋ Pioneer locations, where technologies are developed, have a persistent advantage in high-skill hiring for an extended period.
• 🤙 There is a correlation between the frequency of mentions of disruptive technologies in earnings calls and job postings, indicating the relationship between technology adoption and job creation.
• 🪡 The analysis highlights the need to understand the impact of disruptive technologies on job displacement, which has not been fully explored in this study.

Questions & Answers

Q: How does this analysis measure exposure to disruptive technologies?

The analysis uses text-based data from patents, earnings conference calls, and job postings to identify and measure the extent of exposure to specific disruptive technologies.

Q: What are the key findings regarding the regional concentration of disruptive technologies?

The development of disruptive technologies is heavily concentrated in specific regions, such as Silicon Valley and the Northeast Corridor. However, over time, the use of these technologies spreads to other regions.

Q: How do high-skilled and low-skilled jobs differ in their response to disruptive technologies?

High-skilled jobs tend to stick around the regions where the technologies were invented for longer periods, while low-skilled jobs associated with these technologies spread out more quickly.

Q: What advantage do pioneer locations have in the hiring of disruptive technologies?

Firms that originally develop a technology retain a persistent advantage in hiring related to that technology, suggesting a long-term impact on employment in these regions.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• The analysis utilizes text-based measures to track exposure to disruptive technologies at the firm, patent, and job level since 2002.

• Preliminary insights from the analysis suggest that the development of disruptive technologies is highly concentrated in certain regions.

• Over time, hiring associated with new technologies spreads across space, but low-skilled jobs spread faster than high-skilled jobs.