In the 1970s and 1980s, employment in middle-income occupations-payroll processing and accountancy, for example-grew faster across Europe and the Unit...
GMAT Multi Source Reasoning : (MSR) Questions
In the 1970s and 1980s, employment in middle-income occupations-payroll processing and accountancy, for example-grew faster across Europe and the United States than employment in lower-income jobs. But around the early 1990s something changed. With few exceptions, employment in middle-income occupations began to decline as a share of the total, while the share of both low- and high-income occupations rose. This pattern of polarization occurred in countries with very different welfare systems and levels of unionization and collective bargaining.
The support provided in the given information for the claim that a significant amount of employment polarization is due to IT would be most weakened by adding which of the following assumptions?
OWNING THE DATASET
Understanding Source A: Chart with Text - Job Polarization
| Information from Dataset | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "In the 1970s and 1980s, employment in middle-income occupations—payroll processing and accountancy, for example—grew faster across Europe and the United States than employment in lower-income jobs." |
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| "But around the early 1990s something changed." |
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| "With few exceptions, employment in middle-income occupations began to decline as a share of the total, while the share of both low- and high-income occupations rose." |
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| "This pattern of polarization occurred in countries with very different welfare systems and levels of unionization and collective bargaining." |
|
Chart Analysis: "The Disappearing Middle"
- Shows percentage changes in job types from 1993-2006 for 8 countries/regions
- Key patterns observed:
- All countries show middle-income jobs declining (negative percentages)
- Most countries show increases in both low-income and high-income jobs
- Italy and France show the largest gains in high-income jobs - Inference: The visual confirms widespread "hollowing out" of middle-income positions across diverse economies
Summary: Source A reveals that starting in the early 1990s, middle-income jobs declined as a share of employment while both low- and high-income jobs increased across many different countries, creating a "polarization" effect in the job market.
Understanding Source B: Text - US Study
| Information from Dataset | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "In a study aimed at discerning the effects of information technology (IT) on numbers of middle-income jobs" |
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| "researchers developed a method for classifying tasks as routine or nonroutine" |
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| "Jobs were deemed more or less subject to automation on the basis of this classification. Jobs thus subject to automation included many jobs in middle-income occupations." |
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| "the researchers divided the United States into regions, or commuting zones, deemed to correspond to labor markets" |
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| "employment polarization...between 1980 and 2005 was most marked in regions where employment in jobs subject to automation initially predominated" |
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Summary: Source B reveals that IT and automation displaced routine middle-income jobs, with regions having more automation-prone jobs experiencing greater polarization between 1980-2005, explaining the mechanism behind Source A's documented pattern.
Understanding Source C: Text - Multinational Study
| Information from Dataset | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "researchers analyzed industry-level data from eleven countries—nine European countries, Japan, and the US—for the years between 1980 and 2004" |
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| "industries that adopted IT at faster rates (as measured by their IT spending as well as their spending on research and development)" |
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| "saw faster growth in demand for highly educated workers and the sharpest declines in demand for people with intermediate levels of education" |
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| "This suggested to the researchers a pronounced association between IT and employment polarization" |
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Summary: Source C confirms across eleven countries that industries adopting IT faster experienced increased demand for highly educated workers and decreased demand for intermediate education levels, providing industry-level evidence that complements the geographic patterns in Source B and explains the global phenomenon documented in Source A.
Overall Summary
- The three sources reveal a consistent story of technology-driven employment polarization beginning in the early 1990s
- Middle-tier jobs declined globally as IT and automation displaced routine work
- Demand grew for both high-skilled positions (requiring advanced education) and low-skilled service jobs (harder to automate)
- This pattern affected all major economies regardless of their labor policies
- Both geographic regions and industries showed stronger polarization where routine, middle-income work initially predominated
Question Analysis
The question asks which statement, if assumed true, would most weaken the argument that information technology (IT) causes employment polarization (i.e., the decline of middle-income jobs).
Key Constraints:
- Focus on assumptions that weaken the causal link between IT and employment polarization
- Evaluate each option for its ability to contradict or undermine the IT-employment polarization link
- Identify the most effective weakening assumption
Answer Type Needed: Comparative analysis to identify the single assumption that most undermines the claim
Connecting to Our Analysis
The analysis shows that Sources B and C link IT adoption and spending to increased employment polarization, especially affecting routine and middle-education workers. To answer, I must find the assumption that most directly contradicts this link.
Can answer from analysis alone: YES - the analysis clearly establishes the IT-polarization relationship to judge which assumption undermines it
Extracting Relevant Findings
The key evidential findings show a positive relationship between IT usage/spending and employment polarization. Sources B and C show IT adoption/spending leads to displacement of middle-skilled jobs and increased polarization.
Hypothesis: Regions and industries with higher IT use have experienced greater polarization.
Individual Statement Evaluations
Statement 1 Evaluation
Statement: "The degree of correlation between individual income and level of educational attainment varies significantly among the various countries wherein the studies described in the given information were conducted."
Analysis: This addresses demographic variation, not IT's causal role. The IT-polarization link focuses on causal impact of technology, not correlation variability. This does not challenge IT's causal impact and therefore weakly addresses the IT-polarization claim.
Statement 2 Evaluation
Statement: "Commuting zones with the least amount of employment polarization tend to have the lowest levels of average educational attainment."
Analysis: This suggests low-education regions may avoid polarization, but this is actually consistent with IT theory as low-skill jobs are less automatable. This supports rather than contradicts IT's role and does not weaken the claim.
Statement 3 Evaluation
Statement: "Commuting zones wherein business and industry spend the most on IT and research and development tend to have the least amount of employment polarization."
Analysis: This directly contradicts the claim that more IT leads to more polarization. Given that established evidence indicates higher IT spending causes greater polarization, this assumption reverses the causal relationship and strongly weakens the IT-polarization claim.
Statement 4 Evaluation
Statement: "A significant number of commuting zones have more employment polarization than other commuting zones."
Analysis: This is purely descriptive, stating that polarization varies across zones. It does not address the causal relationship between IT and polarization, making it irrelevant to weakening the IT-polarization argument.
Statement 5 Evaluation
Statement: "Commuting zones with the greatest amount of employment polarization tend to have the lowest average level of educational attainment."
Analysis: This describes a relationship between education levels and polarization but does not conflict with IT causation. The IT-polarization theory can coexist with this educational pattern, so this does not weaken the claim.
Systematic Checking
Review of all options for completeness and direct contradiction:
- Option 1: Variation in income-education correlation - irrelevant to IT causal effect
- Option 2: Low polarization zones have low education - consistent with IT displacement patterns
- Option 3: High IT spending zones have low polarization - directly contradicts evidence
- Option 4: More polarization in some zones - descriptive, not causal
- Option 5: High polarization zones have low education - does not conflict with IT causation
Final Answer
Answer: "Commuting zones wherein business and industry spend the most on IT and research and development tend to have the least amount of employment polarization."
This statement most effectively weakens the argument by directly contradicting the established causal relationship between IT spending and employment polarization.
The degree of correlation between individual income and level of educational attainment varies significantly among the various countries wherein the studies described in the given information were conducted.
Commuting zones with the least amount of employment polarization tend to have the lowest levels of average educational attainment.
Commuting zones wherein business and industry spend the most on IT and research and development tend to have the least amount of employment polarization.
A significant number of commuting zones have more employment polarization than other commuting zones.
Commuting zones with the greatest amount of employment polarization tend to have the lowest average level of educational attainment.