We investigate the relationships between new technologies, innovative workplace practices and the age structure of the workforce in a sample of French firms. We find evidence that the wagebill share of older workers is lower in innovative firms and that the opposite holds for younger workers. This age bias affects both men and women. It is also evidenced within occupational groups. More detailed analysis of employment inflows and outflows shows that new technologies essentially affect older workers through reduced hiring opportunities. In contrast, organisational innovations mainly affect their probability of exit, which decreases much less than for younger workers following reorganisation.In response to increasing national and international competition, many American and European firms have invested in information technologies (IT) over the past three decades. Along with the introduction of computer systems and network technologies, most firms have reorganised their workplace in order to introduce more flexible organisational devices. These include self-managed teams, multitasking, just-in-time production and delivery, total-quality management and some decentralisation of decision making. They are often referred to as Ôhigh performanceÕ workplace practices.One important question regarding technological and organisational innovations has to do with their labour-market consequences: do they affect the structure of employment and, as a consequence, do they hurt the employment prospects of particular types of workers? Evidence in the literature suggests that both technological and organisational innovations are biased against unskilled labour. As regards technological change, there is a general agreement that the development of IT has reduced the employment opportunities of less skilled workers; see Chennells and Van Reenen (2002) for a review. The literature on organisational change is more recent, but several works suggest that innovative workplace practices have also been detrimental to lower skilled employment in various countries; see Caroli and Van Reenen (2001) and Bresnahan et al. (2002).One related issue we tackle here is: are new technologies and workplace practices biased against age? In other words, do they hurt the employment prospects of older workers, relative to younger ones? This question is of particular relevance in Europe given that the population is ageing fast and that the employment rate of older workers is particularly low: no more than 40% of the population aged above 55 is employed in Europe, as compared to 58% in the US and 62% in Japan. From * We are indebted to Andrea Bassanini, Sandra Black, Lex Borghans, Bruno Crépon, Annie Jolivet, Richard Murnane, Sébastien Roux, Bas ter Weel, John Van Reenen and an anonymous referee for most valuable suggestions. We also thank participants to the INSEE Division ÔMarchés et Stratégies d'EntreprisesÕ, DEEE and ÔRechercheÕ seminars, to the MERIT Workshop on ÔInformation Technology and New Industry and Labour Market DynamicsÕ, to the 2004 EALE conferenc...
