Low-skill jobs and routine tasks specialization: New insights from Italian provinces

This paper analyses the relationship between the specialization in routine tasks and the growth of low-skill jobs in Italian provinces. At this aim, we use data of the Italian Labour Force survey and map the US information on tasks content by occupation into a detailed (3 digit) classification of Italian occupations. We find two main results. First, the degree of specialization in routine-tasks has a positive effect on the growth of low-skill jobs at province level. Second, the local specialization in routine tasks favours the growth of the graduated workers employed in low-skill jobs and, then, the over-education pattern in Italy. Finally, our findings are robust to spatial heterogeneity and endogeneity issues.