IFN Stockholm Conference 2017: Globalization and New Technology: Effects on Firms and Workers

Increased economic integration in the last decades has led to a rich body of predictions linking globalization to labor market outcomes in the fields of international and labor economics. In recent years, an intense debate has emerged on whether we now have reached a new phase of the ICT revolution, where not only routine jobs are replaced by new technology but also more advanced jobs. This new technological development can potentially amplify or change the way globalization impacts workers and firms. While some researchers and policy-makers emphasize the risk of increased income inequality and the exclusion of large segments of the labor force, others see new opportunities for firms and workers.

On June 15-16, 2017, the Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN) in Stockholm organized an international two-day conference: “Globalization and New Technology: Effects on Firms and Workers”. The conference brought together researchers with the objective to shed light on how new technology and globalization affect firms' organizational structure and ownership, as well as different labor market outcomes for workers. Focus was on both empirical and theoretical research that emphasizes the importance of firm- and worker heterogeneity, leading to new insights about firm- and worker-level adjustments to new technologies in a globalized world.