A Weather eye on employment and education: essays on employment polarization, technology and human capital formation/ Sujaya Sircar

Thesis (Ph.D.)- Indian Statistical Institute, 2022

Includes bibliography

Introduction -- Evolving occupations or occupation-status? Employment polarization in the context of developing countries -- Do Clouds have a silicon lining for firms? Contract hiring and computer investment: Evidence from rainfall shocks -- The heat is on: Temperature and exam scores in India

Guided by Prof. Tridip Ray

This thesis is related to two widely discussed strands in economics literature: first,
the relationship between technology and workforce and second, the impact of environmental factors on economic outcomes. With the rapid pace at which technology
has evolved since the late 1990s, it is not surprising that several studies have investigated how the workforce composition has evolved (Katz and Murphy (1992),
Acemoglu and Autor (2011), Goos et al. (2014)) and whether machines substitute
workers or demand more of them (Acemoglu and Autor (2011), Autor and Salomons
(2018), Aghion et al. (2020), Acemoglu and Restrepo (2020)), a hotly debated issue.
At the same time there are numerous studies that look at how weather elements such
as rainfall and temperature have affected economic outcomes like agricultural productivity, labour productivity, health and education (Jayachandran (2006), Colmer
(2021), Somanathan et al. (2021), Park (2022)). These studies are particularly relevant in recent years as climate changes (such as global warming) have significantly increased in pace due to human activities like burning of fossil fuels. This thesis tries to provide an understanding of both these topics focusing in particular on the impact on employment and education