Technological change and structural shifts in Sweden's Labor Market, 1870–1930: skill upgrading or deskilling?

This paper documents changing occupational structure and skill composition during industrialisation in Sweden. Using population censuses and the HISCO/HISCLASS scheme, the paper documents a shift from unskilled to more-skilled occupations at the aggregate level. The evidence is consistent with the idea that the structural shift away from agriculture is associated with skill upgrading, though substantial portion of this upgrading took place within the major sectors. Within manufacturing, there was a shift from artisanal workshops to factories but the evidence for Sweden suggests this transition was not connected to deskilling or job polarisation as observed in the United States or England. The paper puts forward the farmwork-to-services hypothesis, arguing that expansion of the service sector offered new opportunities for occupational upgrading. This transition was particularly important for women, who faced higher barriers to entry within the manufacturing sector.