Entry Date:
July 17, 2007

Globalization, Jobs and Skills


Industrial Performance Center (IPC) researchers are at the forefront of globalization research. The focus at the IPC has long been on bottom-up industry research, but more recently on building upon what has been learned to create foundational frameworks for globalization research and assist international data collection agencies in their quest to develop better official statistics to support the study of globalization.

Globalization and Industry Studies -- Industries have different structures and modes for exchanging information, based on the cognitive and technical requirements for creating knowledge and exchanging information and specifications, as mentioned in the book, The New Division of Labor: How Computers Are Creating the Next Job Market, by co-authors Frank Levy and Richard Murnane. These distinctions, often described in terms of tasks based on tacit or codified knowledge, affect the potential for business activities to be conducted at a distance, and therefore, the patterns of geographical spread, organizational and institutional arrangements, and levels of concentration in specific industries. Industry studies by IPC researchers have documented how these patterns of globalization have evolved over time, as firms and entire sectors have engaged with new, emerging markets, competitors and customers.