Productive robots and industrial employment: the role of national innovation systems

Kapetaniou, Chrystalla and Pissarides, Christopher ORCID: 0000-0002-0695-058X (2024) Productive robots and industrial employment: the role of national innovation systems. International Economic Review. ISSN 0020-6598

Text (Int Economic Review - 2024 - Kapetaniou - PRODUCTIVE ROBOTS AND INDUSTRIAL EMPLOYMENT THE ROLE OF NATIONAL INNOVATION) - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (288kB)

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Abstract

In a model with robots, automatable and nonautomatable production, we study robot-labor substitutions and show how they are influenced by a country's “innovation system.” Substitution depends on demand and production elasticities, the country's innovation capabilities, and openness. Making use of World Economic Forum data, we estimate the relationship for 13 countries and find that countries with poor innovation capabilities substitute robots for workers much more than countries with richer innovation capabilities, which might complement them. Innovation capabilities play a bigger role in the high-tech electronics sector than in other manufacturing and play a limited role in nonmanufacturing.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2024 The Authors
Divisions:	Economics
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory
JEL classification:	J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J2 - Time Allocation, Work Behavior, and Employment Determination and Creation; Human Capital; Retirement > J23 - Employment Determination; Job Creation; Demand for Labor; Self-Employment L - Industrial Organization > L6 - Industry Studies: Manufacturing > L60 - General O - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Technological Change; Research and Development > O33 - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes O - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth > O5 - Economywide Country Studies > O52 - Europe
Date Deposited:	10 Oct 2024 09:51
Last Modified:	12 Nov 2024 20:45
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/125682

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