Cities and tasks

This paper explores the relationship between routine-biased technological change and agglomeration economies. Using administrative data from Netherlands, we first show that in dense areas, jobs are less routine-task intensive (i.e. repetitive automatable), meaning cover a larger spectrum of tasks. We then explore how routine intensity affects urban wage premium. find premium is higher for workers performing non-routine tasks, particularly analytic while it absent task jobs. These findings also hold within skill groups suggest routinisation increases spatial inequality areas. further provide suggestive evidence better matching skills to increased learning opportunities cities can explain these findings.