Information Technology and the Labor Market
MIT OpenCourseWare offers this course on how digital technology is changing the American workplace. Lectures and readings cover the reorganization of work, shifts in the mix of occupations, the changing skill requirements within jobs, economy-wide productivity growth, and the widening distribution of wages between high and low earners. The material draws on labor economics research to examine why some occupations are automated while others are not, and how computerization has contributed to job polarization, with growth concentrated in high-skill and low-skill work while middle-skill jobs decline. Course materials include the syllabus, readings drawn from academic papers, and assignments, all available to download and use under a Creative Commons license at no cost, with no certificate offered.