Fuzzy clustering of technological changes and gender-based occupational segregation

Fuzzy logic can solve many significant problems in economics more effectively than conventional mathematics. There are several problems in economics where understanding correlation between variables´ requires not measures of uncertainty, but an estimate of the imprecision from which they are determined. Given the qualitative nature of many of the issues that economists typically concern themselves with, a technique that permits graded categories and blurred boundaries is very appealing. One area that we have begun to investigate is the study of the impact of technological changes on labor market outcomes for women. We are trying to address two questions in this context: what impact does technological change have on women´s participation in the labor force, and what effect does technology have on the degree of gender based occupational segregation. The paper presents the preliminary results of research into these and related questions