Matthias Haslberger
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Haslberger
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Matthias
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matthias.haslberger@unisg.ch
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  • Publication
    Center-Right Parties and Post-War Secondary Education
    ( 2023-01-01)
    Giudici, Anja
    ;
    Gingrich, Jane
    ;
    Chevalier, Tom
    ;
    Haslberger, Matthias orcid-logo
    The massification of secondary schooling constitutes the key educational project of the first post-war period. However, the resulting educational structures differed in terms of streaming and standardization. Despite their historical opposition to such expansion, center-right parties contributed to shaping these reforms. They generally opposed standardization because their distributive strategy rested on support from elites and middle classes. However, their stance on streaming varied. Centre-right parties supported streaming when they were linked to teachers and private providers who opposed comprehensive reforms, but supported de-streaming where such groups aligned with the left. This article shows how center-right parties in Bavaria, France, and Italy, with common partisan distributive aims, introduced varied public service reforms following from their links to different vested producers. It argues that theorizing such reforms requires considering both distributive and productive environments.
    Type: journal article
    Journal: Comparative Politics
    Volume: 55
    Issue: 2
    DOI: 10.5129/001041523X16570701392481
    URI: https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/handle/20.500.14171/117872
    Scopus© Citations 8
  • Publication
    Rehinking the measurement of occupational task content
    ( 2021-08-21)
    Haslberger, Matthias orcid-logo
    Which tasks workers perform in their jobs is critical for how technological change plays out in the labour market. This article critically reviews existing measures of occupational task content and makes the case for rethinking how this concept is operationalised. It identifies serious shortcomings relating to the theoretical content and the empirical implementation of existing measures. Based on survey data from European Union countries between 2000 and 2015, it then introduces novel measures of routine task intensity and task complexity at the International Standard Classification of Occupations 1988 two-digit level that address these shortcomings. The indices will contribute to a more theoretically informed understanding of technological change and benefit both labour economists and sociologists in investigating the nature of recent technological change.
    Type: journal article
    Journal: The Economic and Labour Relations Review
    Volume: 33
    Issue: 1
    DOI: 10.1177/10353046211037095
    URI: https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/handle/20.500.14171/117873
    Scopus© Citations 2
  • Publication
    Routine-biased technological change does not always lead to polarisation: Evidence from 10 OECD countries, 1995–2013
    ( 2021-07-16)
    Haslberger, Matthias orcid-logo
    This article deals with a central paradox in the occupational polarisation literature: most scholars accept that technological change is biased against routine-intensive occupations, but in many countries, we do not see the pattern of occupational polarisation that the theory usually predicts. I argue and show empirically using a dataset of 10 OECD countries between 1995 and 2013 that technological change is both routine-biased and skill-biased, but that the result of routine-biased technological change may be occupational upgrading rather than polarisation. This is due to differences in occupational routine-wage hierarchies: only where routine occupations cluster around the middle of the wage distribution are we likely to see polarisation. Where routine occupations are concentrated near the bottom of the wage hierarchy, upgrading occupational change is the norm. Based on research on the US, the former has been widely assumed, but it does not hold true in all countries. Overall, this article shows that much previous work on routine-biased technological change and polarisation was built on premises that do not travel well. This underscores the importance of comparative research for building and testing robust general theories.
    Type: journal article
    Journal: Research in Social Stratification and Mobility
    Volume: 74
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rssm.2021.100623
    URI: https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/handle/20.500.14171/117874
    Scopus© Citations 8
  • Publication
    Yesterday's Model for Tomorrow's Economy? The Effect of Dual VET on Youth Unemployment and Wage Inequality in the Knowledge Economy
    ( 2023-06-14)
    Emmenegger, Patrick
    ;
    Haslberger, Matthias orcid-logo
    Dual vocational education and training (VET) systems are said to lead to lower youth unemployment. Some research has also linked dual VET to lower wage inequality. Yet, recent contributions suggest that the technological and organizational changes associated with the rise of the knowledge economy undermine the beneficial effects of dual VET. Most notably, employment in routine-task-intensive occupations is declining due to automation, whereas technological change increases demand for non-routine cognitive tasks. For such high-end jobs, college-educated workers with general skills are argued to be better suited. This paper provides the first evidence on the effect of dual VET on youth unemployment and wage inequality in mature knowledge economies. We have assembled a new panel data set for 37 advanced economies from 1996 to 2020. We find that dual VET remains associated with lower youth unemployment and wage inequality throughout the entire period. The rise of the knowledge economy is positively associated with youth unemployment at low levels of dual VET. However, where the dual VET share is high, the rise of the knowledge economy further reduces youth unemployment. In contrast, the negative effect of dual VET on wage inequality is not affected by the rise of the knowledge economy. Our paper significantly extends existing research on the effects of dual VET by explicitly theorizing and modelling its interaction with the knowledge economy. Contrary to the fears often espoused in the literature, we find no evidence that the knowledge economy undermines the beneficial effects of dual VET.
    Type: conference paper
    URI: https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/handle/20.500.14171/117869
  • Publication
    Yesterday's Model for Tomorrow's Economy? The Effect of Firm-Based VET on Youth Unemployment and Wage Inequality in the Knowledge Economy
    ( 2023-01-28)
    Emmenegger, Patrick
    ;
    Haslberger, Matthias orcid-logo
    Skill formation systems that emphasize firm-based vocational education and training (VET) are said to lead lower youth unemployment. Some research has also linked firm-based VET to lower wage inequality. Yet, recent contributions suggest that the technological and organizational changes associated with the rise of the knowledge economy undermine the beneficial effects of firm-based VET. Most notably, employment in routine-task-intensive occupations is declining due to automation, whereas technological change increases demand for non-routine cognitive jobs carried out in high-end jobs. For such jobs, collegeeducated workers with general skills are argued to be better suited. Such developments do not bode well for firm-based VET systems, which traditionally focus on routine-task-intensive occupations. This paper provides the first evidence on the effect of firm-based VET on youth unemployment and wage inequality in mature knowledge economies. We have assembled a new panel data set for 37 advanced economies from 1996 to 2020. We find that firm-based VET remains associated with lower youth unemployment and wage inequality throughout this period. The rise of the knowledge economy (operationalized as patenting activity in the ICT and artificial intelligence fields) is positively associated with youth unemployment and wage inequality at low levels of firm-based VET. However, where the firm-based VET share is high, the rise of the knowledge economy further reduces youth unemployment and wage inequality. Our paper significantly extends existing research on the effects of firm-based VET by explicitly theorizing and modelling its interaction with the knowledge economy. Contrary to the fears often espoused in the literature, we find no evidence that the knowledge economy undermines the beneficial effects of firm-based VET. Rather, our findings suggest that a strong firm-based VET sector combined with a knowledge-based economy contribute to lower youth unemployment and lower wage inequality.
    Type: conference paper
    URI: https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/handle/20.500.14171/117867
  • Publication
    Housing Wealth and Tax Preferences Across Europe
    ( 2023-06-29)
    Haslberger, Matthias orcid-logo
    ;
    Ansell, Ben
    ;
    Bokobza, Laure
    ;
    Elkjaer, Mads Andreas
    ;
    Elkjaer
    Despite being much more unequally distributed than income, wealth as a determinant of political preferences has received comparatively little attention. We address this gap by studying how housing wealththe bulk of private wealth for most ordinary citizens-affects attitudes towards the taxation of income, inheritance, capital gains, and wealth. We leverage data from 7 European countries from an original survey including a conjoint and an information experiment. We find that compared to renters, homeowners and children of homeowners prefer less progressive taxation of wealth and inheritances. We can further show that this effect is driven by homeowners who own their house outright, while homeowners with a mortgage have more moderate preferences. People who believe they are wealthy relative to others are likewise less supportive of progressive taxation. This supports a view of homeowners as rational economic actors who are particularly opposed to taxes that predominantly affect them. In the conjoint, we find that people favour progressive but overall lower taxes. Furthermore, when forced to choose between joint income and inheritance tax schedules, income tax takes precedence, even for homeowners. Finally, in the information experiment we find no evidence that informing people about the level of income or wealth inequality in their country leads to more progressive tax preferences. Overall, this paper provides the most comprehensive investigation of housing wealth and tax preferences in Europe to date and contributes to an increasingly salient public and academic debate.
    Type: conference paper
    URI: https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/handle/20.500.14171/117863
  • Publication
    Housing Wealth and Tax Preferences Across Europe
    ( 2023-01-30)
    Haslberger, Matthias orcid-logo
    ;
    Ansell, Ben
    ;
    Bokobza, Laure
    ;
    Mads, Andreas
    ;
    Elkjaer
    ;
    Nyrup, Jacob
    Despite being much more unequally distributed than income, wealth as a determinant of political preferences has received comparatively little attention. We address this gap by studying how housing wealththe bulk of private wealth for most ordinary citizens-affects attitudes towards the taxation of income, inheritance, capital gains, and wealth. We leverage data from 7 European countries from an original survey including a conjoint and an information experiment. We find that compared to renters, homeowners and children of homeowners prefer less progressive taxation of wealth and inheritances. We can further show that this effect is driven by homeowners who own their house outright, while homeowners with a mortgage have more moderate preferences. People who believe they are wealthy relative to others are likewise less supportive of progressive taxation. This supports a view of homeowners as rational economic actors who are particularly opposed to taxes that predominantly affect them. In the conjoint, we find that people favour progressive but overall lower taxes. Furthermore, when forced to choose between joint income and inheritance tax schedules, income tax takes precedence, even for homeowners. Finally, in the information experiment we find no evidence that informing people about the level of income or wealth inequality in their country leads to more progressive tax preferences. Overall, this paper provides the most comprehensive investigation of housing wealth and tax preferences in Europe to date and contributes to an increasingly salient public and academic debate.
    Type: conference paper
    URI: https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/handle/20.500.14171/117866
  • Publication
    Housing and Political Efficacy
    ( 2023-06-17)
    Haslberger, Matthias orcid-logo
    ;
    Elkjaer, Mads Andreas
    ;
    Ansell, Ben
    It has long been established that education and income affect people’s political efficacy. Surprisingly, the role of wealth - in particular, housing wealth - has thus far been ignored in this literature. We theorise that housing performs several functions that increase political efficacy and test our arguments using data from three large representative surveys administered in the UK. We first argue that housing wealth provides a form of ”self-insurance”, which on the one hand facilitates civic engagement, and on the other hand raises people’s stakes in the political process. In line with this argument, we find that homeowners, owners of more valuable houses, owners who have paid off their mortgage, and individuals who believe themselves to be higher in the housing wealth distribution all exhibit higher efficacy. Based on the literature on status expectations and the politics of resentment, we furthermore investigate whether intergenerational housing mobility affects political efficacy. However, we find no evidence that upward or downward intergenerational housing mobility affects efficacy beyond the first-order effect of homeownership. Finally, we study whether stronger local ties explain the higher efficacy of homeowners. Again, however, we find no evidence that length of tenancy in the area affects homeowners and renters differently. The results of this study show that housing - and by extension wealth more generally - constitutes a hitherto neglected but crucial determinant of political efficacy, chiefly by providing security which enables and incentivises engagement.
    Type: conference paper
    URI: https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/handle/20.500.14171/117865
  • Publication
    The Missing Link: Automation Risk, Dual VET, and Social Policy Preferences
    ( 2023-06-19)
    Haslberger, Matthias orcid-logo
    ;
    Emmenegger, Patrick
    ;
    Durazzi, Niccolo
    How does automation risk affect social policy preferences? We advance the lively debate surrounding this question by focusing on the moderating role of education and training institutions. In particular, we develop a theoretical argument that foregrounds the role of dual VET systems. While existing literature would lead us to expect that dual VET systems increase demand for compensatory social policy and magnify the effect of automation risk on such demand, we contend that the opposite holds true. We hypothesize that dual VET systems weaken demand for compensatory social policy and dampen the effect of automation risk on demand for compensatory social policy through three non-mutually exclusive mechanisms that we refer to as (i) skill certification; (ii) material self-interest; and (iii) workplace socialization. Analyzing cross-national individual data from ESS, fine-grained data on individual educational background from the German ESS module as well as national-level OECD data on education and training systems, we find strong evidence in favor of our argument. The paper does not only advance the debate on social policy preferences in the age of automation but it also sheds new light on an old debate, namely the relationship between skill "specificity" and social policy preferences.
    Type: conference paper
    URI: https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/handle/20.500.14171/117864
  • Publication
    The Missing Link: Automation Risk, Dual VET, and Social Policy Preferences
    ( 2023-09-08)
    Matthias Haslberger orcid-logo
    ;
    Patrick Emmenegger
    ;
    Niccolo Durazzi
    How does technological change affect social policy preferences? We advance the lively debate surrounding this question by focusing on the moderating role of education and training institutions. In particular, we develop a theoretical argument that foregrounds the role of dual VET systems. While existing literature would lead us to expect that dual VET systems increase demand for compensatory social policy and magnify the effect of automation risk on such demand, we contend that the opposite holds true. We hypothesize that dual VET systems weaken demand for compensatory social policy and dampen the effect of automation risk on demand for compensatory social policy through three non-mutually exclusive mechanisms that we refer to as (i) skill certification; (ii) material self-interest; and (iii) workplace socialization. Analyzing cross-national individual data from ESS, fine-grained data on individual educational background from the German ESS module as well as national-level OECD data on education and training systems, we find strong evidence in favor of our argument. The paper does not only advance the debate on social policy preferences in the age of automation but it also sheds new light on an old debate, namely the relationship between skill specificity and social policy preferences.
    Type: conference paper
    URI: https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/handle/20.500.14171/118549