Rabensteiner, Thomas ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9289-3579 and Guschanski, Alexander ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7818-8264 (2025) Occupational autonomy and wage divergence: evidence from European survey data. British Journal of Industrial Relations (BJIR). ISSN 0007-1080 (Print), 1467-8543 (Online) (doi:10.1111/bjir.70003)

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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.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	autonomy, bargaining power, employee monitoring, labour market institutions, outsourcing, survey data, wage inequality
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory H Social Sciences > HF Commerce
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Greenwich Business School Greenwich Business School > Political Economy, Governance, Finance and Accountability (PEGFA) Journal of Economic Literature Classification > Political Economy, Governance, Finance and Accountability (PEGFA) Greenwich Business School > Political Economy, Governance, Finance and Accountability (PEGFA) > Greenwich Political Economy Research Centre (GPERC) Journal of Economic Literature Classification > Political Economy, Governance, Finance and Accountability (PEGFA) > Greenwich Political Economy Research Centre (GPERC) Journal of Economic Literature Classification > Greenwich Political Economy Research Centre (GPERC) Greenwich Business School > School of Accounting, Finance and Economics
Last Modified:	26 Jun 2025 09:14
URI:	https://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/50733

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