Digital Transition System – Observation of the Technical Transition within the Research Project "Polarization II".
In this project, an evaluation grid is analyzed with indicators that can favor or inhibit technological change. The position in the value chain, the divisibility or duplicability of the service, the local and spatial commitment, the occupational flexibility, the social partnership structure, the type of possible technology use and the possibility of taking advantage through (market) entry barriers are of relevance. The significance of the individual indicators is examined by means of a panel regression. Since technological change as such cannot be measured and thus the explanatory power of the indicators cannot be determined, occupational upheaval - i.e. the change in the occupational structure within an industry - was determined as a proxy variable for technological change. From an ex-post perspective, it can be shown that labor productivity, spatial concentration, and input mix have a demonstrable positive relationship with changing working conditions. The temporal relationship with upheaval is not clearly verifiable due to the annual observation in the comparatively short period. However, it can be assumed that an increased input mix and occupational upheaval positively influence each other.