TY - JOUR T1 - The Growing Importance of Social Tasks in High-Paying Occupations: Implications for Sorting JF - Journal of Human Resources JO - J Hum Resour DO - 10.3368/jhr.58.5.0121-11455R1 SP - 0121-11455R1 AU - Guido Matias Cortes AU - Nir Jaimovich AU - Henry E. Siu Y1 - 2021/07/12 UR - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2021/07/03/jhr.58.5.0121-11455R1.abstract N2 - We document that, since 1980, higher paying occupations in the US have experienced increases in the importance of tasks requiring social skills compared to lower paying ones. Economic theory indicates that the occupational sorting of workers depends on their comparative advantage in performing occupational tasks. Hence, changes in the relative importance of tasks across occupations change sorting. We document that the increasing relative importance of social tasks in high-paying occupations can account for an important fraction of the increased sorting of women relative to men towards these occupations over recent decades. ER -