Research
Publications
Blanas, S. (2023), The Distinct Effects of Information Technologies and Communication Technologies on Skill Demand, Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society.
This paper studies the distinct effects of Information Technologies (IT) and Communication Technologies (CT) on the relative demand for skill.
For a brief overview of this paper, you may watch this video. Several key concepts of this paper have also been highlighted in my webinar on "Digitalisation, Work from Distance, and Skills of the Future". Webinar, held in Italian, courtesy of the BRIGHT-NIGHT project (European Researchers' Night).
Previously circulated as "The Distinct Effects of Information Technologies and Communication Technologies on the Age-Skill Composition of Labour Demand" (NBB WP 2019)
Blanas, S. and Oikonomou, R. (2023), Covid-induced Economic Uncertainty, Tasks and Occupational Demand, Labour Economics, Volume 81, 102335.
This paper studies the impact of Covid-induced economic uncertainty on the relative demand for different occupations in the US, according to a wide range of occupational characteristics (e.g. routine intensity, service-orientedness, physical contact intensity, essentiality).
Several key concepts of this paper have been highlighted in the second part of my webinar on "Digitalisation, Work from Distance, and Skills of the Future". Webinar, held in Italian, courtesy of the BRIGHT-NIGHT project (European Researchers' Night).
Blanas, S., Gancia, G. & Lee, S.Y.T. (2019), Who is afraid of machines?, Economic Policy, Volume 34, Issue 100, Pages 627–690.
This paper studies how various forms of machines, such as information and communication technologies, software and especially industrial robots, affect the demand for workers of different education, age and gender.
Working paper versions: CEPR DP June 2019; BGSE WP July 2019; UPF WP July 2019 ; QMUL SEF WP July 2019
For an overview of the paper, see: Economic Policy Digest April 2019; VoxEU; Barcelona GSE Focus
Featured in: Telegraph, Alternatives Économiques, VoxEU column on "Challenges in the Digital Age", Bradford DeLong's worthy reads on equitable growth, DeLong's Grasping Reality Blog, World Economic Forum.
Presentation slides: European Commission DG ECFIN webinar
Key insights derived from this paper are highlighted in my webinar on "Digitalisation, Work from Distance, and Future Skills". Webinar, held in Italian, courtesy of the BRIGHT-NIGHT project (European Researchers' Night).
Blanas, S., Seric, A. & Viegelahn, C. (2019). Job Quality, FDI and Institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from Firm-Level Data, European Journal of Development Research, 31(5): 1287-1317.
This paper studies the association of various measures of job quality with the foreign ownership status of firms and various aspects of foreign ownership, as well as the role of host-country institutions in these associations.
See also: Online First
Working paper versions: ILO Research Department WP; LUMS Economics WP
For an overview of the paper, see: Devpolicy blog
Blanas, S. and Seric, A. (2018). Determinants of Intra‐Firm Trade: Evidence from Foreign Affiliates in Sub‐Saharan Africa, Review of International Economics, 26(4):917–956.
This paper uncovers stylised facts on intra-firm and arm's length trade and identifies firm-level determinants of intra-firm trade.
Working paper version: LUMS WP 2017
Working papers
"Upgrading of Foreign Affiliates in Sub-Saharan Africa and Spillovers to Local Firms", with Adnan Seric (UNIDO), SSRN WP May 2024
Using unusually rich information on foreign affiliates in goods-producing and goods-selling industries of 19 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2009, this paper studies how the importance of parent-to-affiliate transfers of different types of tacit knowledge (e.g. technology and know-how) for coordination purposes is associated with parent-to-affiliate transfers of inputs and capital goods. It then studies how parent-to-affiliate transfers of knowledge, inputs, and capital goods are associated with the likelihood of foreign affiliates of assisting their local suppliers in a number of key areas (e.g. technology and know-how, product quality upgrading).
"The Implications of the Interplay between Global Value Chains and Technology for Labour Productivity and Demand", with Phu Huynh (ILO), Michael Koch (Aarhus) and Christian Viegelahn (ILO), SSRN WP April 2024; RETHING-GSC WP April 2024
This paper studies the implications of the interplay between Global Value Chains (GVCs) and technology for labour productivity and demand.
"Age-Biased Offshoring and Automation", SSRN WP April 2024
This paper studies the effects of offshoring to high- and lower-income countries and automation (e.g. industrial robots, 3-D printing machines, automatic conveyors) on the relative demand for different age groups of workers.
Previously circulated as "Offshoring and the Age-Skill Composition of Labour Demand" (LUMS WP 2017)
Work in progress
"International Sourcing, Domestic Labour Costs, and Producer Prices", with Maurizio Zanardi (Surrey)
Research-based policy work
"Global Value Chains and Labour Markets in South-East Asia from a Global Comparative Perspective", with Phu Huynh (ILO) and Christian Viegelahn (ILO)
Key findings of this research feature in the chapter "Jobs and Global Value Chains in South-East Asia" of Asian Development Bank's March 2023 publication "ASEAN and Global Value Chains: Locking in Resilience and Sustainability"
Blanas, S. & Zimmer, H. (2020, September). Price-setting Behaviour in Belgium: New Evidence from Micro-level CPI Data, Economic Review, National Bank of Belgium, issue ii, pages 53-76.
Exploiting a new release of micro-level Consumer Price Index (CPI) data of monthly frequency for Belgium from January 2007 to December 2015, we provide evidence on how frequently prices adjust, how large these adjustments are, and the time- and state-dependent aspects of these adjustments.
You may also visit my IDEAS, SSRN, and Google Scholar.