abstract: 'Job erosion is a major concern globally, especially given the COVID-19

  pandemic. Unemployment and low wages remain pressing societal challenges

  in the wake of increased automation, more so for traditionally

  disadvantaged groups in the labor market, such as women, minorities, and

  the elderly. However, workers who possess relevant information

  technology (IT) skills might have an edge in an increasingly digital

  economy. In this study, we examine the role of IT skills in labor market

  outcomes for workers. We leverage a household IT use survey from an

  emerging economy that captures detailed, individual-level data on IT

  skills and IT use, which are also integrated with household labor force

  survey data on workers'' wages, occupations, and industries between 2007

  and 2015. We find that basic IT skills increase employment probability,

  and these employment effects can be explained by both increased labor

  force participation and a higher probability of transitioning from

  unemployment to employment, after accounting for the decision to

  participate in the workforce. Advanced IT skills are not significantly

  associated with higher employment, conditioning on basic IT skills.

  However, having advanced IT skills helps workers to earn higher wages

  and incrementally increases the probability that they are employed in

  higher-paid jobs. Interestingly, the effects of basic IT skills on

  employment are significantly larger for the female and older workforce

  that typically has a higher preference for flexible work options.

  Additionally, IT skills complement occupations that have a higher share

  of nonroutine tasks that cannot be performed by predefined rules. These

  results emphasize the importance of providing necessary IT access and

  basic IT training to traditionally socially disadvantaged groups to

  reduce the IT skills gap and close the digital divide. We contribute to

  the literature by providing evidence on the role of different IT skills

  in the entire labor force across multiple occupations and demographics,

  going beyond IT professionals and employed workers who have

  predominantly been studied in the information systems literature. We

  discuss implications for the future of work and education and public

  policy for designing IT training policies for workers, students, and

  organizations to stimulate employment for workers with higher wages,

  particularly in developing economies and for traditionally disadvantaged

  segments of the workforce, such as women and the elderly, particularly

  after the COVID-19 pandemic.'
affiliation: 'Atasoy, H (Corresponding Author), Rutgers State Univ, Dept Accounting
  \& Informat Syst, Piscataway, NJ 08854 USA.

  Atasoy, Hilal, Rutgers State Univ, Dept Accounting \& Informat Syst, Piscataway,
  NJ 08854 USA.

  Banker, Rajiv D., Temple Univ, Dept Accounting, Philadelphia, PA 19122 USA.

  Pavlou, Paul A., Univ Houston, Dept Decis \& Informat Sci, Houston, TX 77204 USA.'
author: Atasoy, Hilal and Banker, Rajiv D. and Pavlou, Paul A.
author-email: 'hilal.atasoy@rutgers.edu

  banker@temple.edu

  pavlou@bauer.uh.edu'
author_list:
- family: Atasoy
  given: Hilal
- family: Banker
  given: Rajiv D.
- family: Pavlou
  given: Paul A.
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1287/isre.2020.0975
eissn: 1526-5536
files: []
issn: 1047-7047
journal: INFORMATION SYSTEMS RESEARCH
keywords: 'IT skills; general-purpose skills; employment; labor force

  participation; wages; COVID-19'
keywords-plus: 'GENDER-DIFFERENCES; SAMPLE SELECTION; COHORT SIZE; JOB SKILLS;

  KNOWLEDGE; EMPLOYMENT; PARTICIPATION; PROFESSIONALS; REQUIREMENTS;

  POLARIZATION'
language: English
month: JUN
number: '2'
number-of-cited-references: '85'
orcid-numbers: Pavlou, Paul/0000-0002-8830-5727
pages: 437-461
papis_id: ae0db1e05b734c49524d5a64c35ccb08
ref: Atasoy2021informationtechnolog
times-cited: '7'
title: Information Technology Skills and Labor Market Outcomes for Workers
type: article
unique-id: WOS:000662862000010
usage-count-last-180-days: '22'
usage-count-since-2013: '147'
volume: '32'
web-of-science-categories: Information Science \& Library Science; Management
year: '2021'