I denne prosjektperioden har arbeidet fokusert på delprosjekt 2.2.2-3 om hvordan bedrifter og arbeidstakergrupperinger (feks fagforeninger) har markedsmakt og utøver denne. I artikkelen "Automatisation and worker organisation" av Umblisj mfl., så viser forfatterne at sannsynligheten for å oppleve automatisering, som er sterkere for visse arbeidstakergrupper enn andre, forsterker organiseringstilbøyeligheten for disse gruppene. I paperet "Job search, efficiency wages and taxes" ser Bryson og Dale-Olsen på i hvilken grad det norske progressive skattesystemet påvirker arbeidsgivernes monopsonimakt. De finner at redusert progressivitet i lønnsinntektsbeskatningen gir økt mobilitet og svekker arbeidsgivernes monopsonimakt (markedsmakt). I paperet "Monopsony, labour demand fluctuations and the gender wage gap" viser Barth og Dale-Olsen at deler av lønnsgapet mellom kvinner og menn kan tilskrives forskjeller i arbeidsgivers monopsonimakt ovenfor kvinner og menn, men at denne svekkes ettersom etterspørselen etter arbeidskraft stiger (som feks under bedre konjunktursyklus).
Technological changes, e.g. within the fields of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and robotics, and public policies alters the choice set of employers, and influence their decisions on how, where, when and what to produce. In many countries, such decisions are made in interplay with worker organisations. Our proposed project, entitled Power, Structure and technology - Opportunities and Challenges for the labour market (hereafter, PST), focuses on how technology changes the meaning of the firm and the workplace. Drawing on insights from economics, political science, sociology and industrial relations, the PST research projects provides a detailed empirical assessment on how and to what extent digitalisation affects the shifting boundaries and structure of the firm and on the shifts in the balance of power between employers and workers.
First, we address how technological change such as digitalisation may affect firms and their structure, and areas within the workplace, depending not only on the type of the firm, but also on the type of union presence within the sector or firm, a key institution in the Norwegian labour market (sub-projects 2.2.1-3). Technology, investments, super-firms, and the interplay with unions and negotiations are keywords. Second, we address boundary shifts and changes in structure within the nation state (sub-projects 2.2.4-5), temporary work legislation and domestic outsourcing, influencing inequality in the workplace and in the labour market with important implications for ethnic and gendered class based divisions. Third, we address boundary shifts and structure change outside the nation state (sub-projects 2.2.6-7), so-called product and service offshoring, affect workplace inequality within the nation state.