Deciphering long-term labor skill development in Italy, 1871-2011

Abstract

While the effects of technological change on deskilling and upskilling of the contemporary labor force have been intensely debated among economists and sociologists, historians have been more or less silent. Here, we historicize this debate by applying a set of HISCO-based measures to a recently homogenized set of aggregated census data for men in Italy from 1871 to 2011, coded in HISCO, to study the effects of waves of technological changes. With the transition from agriculture, via industry to services, we identify the main subprocesses and study occupational diversity and specialization, class formation, and skill development. The first industrial revolution saw modest growth in lower-skilled work in Italy, and a decline in unskilled work; the second, growth in lower- and higher-skilled work, and a decline in medium and unskilled work; the third, growth in lower- and higher-skilled work.