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Sandher, Jeevun (2022): No Country for Non-Graduate Men: The Childish Roots of Adult Job Tasks & Employment. (SocArXiv papers), 79 S. DOI:10.31235/osf.io/sh58c

Abstract

"Male employment has declined across advanced economies as non-graduate men found it increasingly difficult to gain jobs in the wake of technological change and globalisation. This has led to rising earnings and, subsequently, income inequality. Female employment, by contrast, has risen in this period. Previous work has shown changing job task demands explain this pattern - with declining manual tasks penalising men and rising non-routine tasks benefiting women. In this paper, I test whether gendered differences in childhood & adolescent cognitive, social, perseverance, and emotional-health skills can help explain why men are less adept at non-routine tasks using long-term longitudinal data from the United Kingdom. I find that childhood & adolescent skills have a significant effect on adult job tasks and employment outcomes. Greater cognitive and childhood emotional-health skills lead to people performing more high-pay analytical and interactive job tasks as adults. Greater cognitive and non-cognitive skills are also associated with higher adult employment levels. Indicative calculations show that gendered differences in these childhood and adolescent skills explain an economically significant decline in the analytical and interactive job tasks performed by non-graduate men as well as their employment rates." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Schulze-Cleven, Tobias & Todd E. Vachon (2022): The Future of Work and Workers: Insights from US Labour Studies. In: Global Labour Journal, Jg. 19, H. 1, S. 122-134. DOI:10.15173/glj.v13i1.5068

Abstract

"We have argued in this essay that it is during times of uncertainty such as this that ideas are most important. Ideas are the basis upon which actors can treat uncertainty as risk and engage in rational problem-solving. How can we best ensure that workers are protected and equity is centred in the process of institutional renewal? Drawing from a labour studies perspective on the future of work and workers, we have highlighted several crucial considerations and principles that have been missing from most contemporary US-based discussions and that we suspect can travel beyond the borders of the United States. Together, we believe, these insights can help guide attempts to build a future in which work is rewarding and in which workers have a voice about how it is conducted. Collaborative research efforts and partnerships between academics and practitioners to explore these elements and others are one way through which shared visions can be developed and the seeds for a more just and equitable future may be planted. We look forward to participating in such conversations in the days and years ahead and encourage you to join as well." (Text excerpt, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Squicciarini, Mariagrazia & Jacopo Staccioli (2022): Labour-saving technologies and employment levels. Are robots really making workers redundant? (OECD science, technology and industry policy papers 124), Paris, 36 S. DOI:10.1787/9ce86ca5-en

Abstract

"This paper exploits natural language processing techniques to detect explicit labour-saving goals in inventive efforts in robotics and assess their relevance for different occupational profiles and the impact on employment levels. The analysis relies on patents published by the European Patent Office between 1978 and 2019 and firm-level data from ORBIS® IP. It investigates innovative actors engaged in labour-saving technologies and their economic environment (identity, location, industry), and identifies technological fields and associated occupations which are particularly exposed to them. Labour-saving patents are concentrated in Japan, the United States, and Italy, and seem to affect low-skilled and blue-collar jobs, along with highly cognitive and specialised professions. A preliminary analysis does not find an appreciable negative effect on employment shares in OECD countries over the past decade, but further research to econometrically investigate the relationship between labour-saving technological developments and employment would be helpful." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Terry, Esme, Abigail Marks, Arek Dakessian & Dimitris Christopoulos (2022): Emotional Labour and the Autonomy of Dependent Self-Employed Workers: The Limitations of Digital Managerial Control in the Home Credit Sector. In: Work, Employment and Society, Jg. 36, H. 4, S. 665-682. DOI:10.1177/0950017020979504

Abstract

"Changes to the labour process in the home credit sector have exposed the industry’s agency workforce to increased levels of digital managerial control through the introduction of lending applications and algorithmic decision-making techniques. This article highlights the heterogeneous nature of the impact of digitalisation on the labour process and worker autonomy – specifically, in terms of workers’ engagement in unquantified emotional labour. By considering the limitations of digital control in relation to qualitative elements of the labour process, it becomes evident that emotional labour has the scope to be a source of autonomy for dependent self-employed workers when set against a backdrop of heightened digital control. This article therefore contributes to ongoing labour process debates surrounding digitalisation, quantified workers and digital managerial control." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Yakymovych, Yaroslav (2022): Consequences of job loss for routine workers. (Working papers / Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy 2022,15), Uppsala, 39 S.

Abstract

"Routine-biased technological change has led to the worsening of labour market prospects for workers in exposed occupations as their work has increasingly been done by machines. Routine workers who have lost their jobs in mass displacement events are likely to have been a particularly affected group, due to potential difficulties in finding new employment that matches their skills and experience. In this study, the annual earnings, employment, monthly wages and days of unemployment of displaced routine workers are compared to those of displaced non-routine workers using Swedish matched employer-employee data. The results show substantial routine-occupation penalties among displaced workers, which persist in the medium to long term. Compared to displaced non-routine workers, displaced routine workers lose an additional year's worth of pre-displacement earnings and spend 180 more days in unemployment. A possible channel for this effect is the loss of occupation- and industry-specific human capital, as routine workers are unable to find jobs similar to those they had before becoming displaced. I do not find evidence that switching to a non-routine occupation reduces routine workers' losses, but rather there are indications that switchers do worse in the short-to-medium run. The findings suggest that the effects of labour-replacing technological change on the most exposed individuals can be severe and difficult to ameliorate." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Zuazu-Bermejo, Izaskun (2022): Robots and women in manufacturing employment. (ifso working paper 19), Duisburg: University of Duisburg-Essen, Institute for Socio-Economics (ifso), 51 S.

Abstract

"Automation transforms the combination of tasks performed by machines and humans, and reshapes existing labour markets by replacing jobs and creating new ones. The implications of these transformations are likely to differ by gender as women and men concentrate in different tasks and jobs. This article argues that a gender-biased technological change framework will advance our understanding of the differentiated role of robots in labour market outcomes of women and men. The article empirically analyses the impact of industrial robots in gender segregation and employment levels of women and men using an industry-level disaggregated panel dataset of 11 industries in 14 developed and developing countries during 1993-2015. Within fixed-effects and instrumental variables estimates suggest that robotization increases the share of women in manufacturing employment. However, this impact hinges upon female labour force participation. As female labour participation rate increases, robots are associated with a negative effect of robotization in the female share of manufacturing employment. Results also show that the impact of robotization varies at different levels of economic development. The estimates point to a reducing employment effects of robotization, although the effect for women is larger. The results are robust to a variety of various sensitivity checks." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Acemoglu, Daron & Pascual Restrepo (2021): Tasks, Automation, and the Rise in US Wage Inequality. (NBER working paper 28920), Cambridge, MA, 106 S. DOI:10.3386/w28920

Abstract

"We document that between 50% and 70% of changes in the US wage structure over the last four decades are accounted for by the relative wage declines of worker groups specialized in routine tasks in industries experiencing rapid automation. We develop a conceptual framework where tasks across a number of industries are allocated to different types of labor and capital. Automation technologies expand the set of tasks performed by capital, displacing certain worker groups from employment opportunities for which they have comparative advantage. This framework yields a simple equation linking wage changes of a demographic group to the task displacement it experiences. We report robust evidence in favor of this relationship and show that regression models incorporating task displacement explain much of the changes in education differentials between 1980 and 2016. Our task displacement variable captures the effects of automation technologies (and to a lesser degree offshoring) rather than those of rising market power, markups or deunionization, which themselves do not appear to play a major role in US wage inequality. We also propose a methodology for evaluating the full general equilibrium effects of task displacement (which include induced changes in industry composition and ripple effects as tasks are reallocated across different groups). Our quantitative evaluation based on this methodology explains how major changes in wage inequality can go hand-in-hand with modest productivity gains." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Aksoy, Cevat Giray, Berkay Özcan & Julia Philipp (2021): Robots and the Gender Pay Gap in Europe. In: European Economic Review, Jg. 134. DOI:10.1016/j.euroecorev.2021.103693

Abstract

"Could robotization make the gender pay gap worse? We provide the first large-scale evidence on the impact of industrial robots on the gender pay gap using data from 20 European countries. We show that robot adoption increases both male and female earnings but also increases the gender pay gap. Using an instrumental variable strategy, we find that a ten percent increase in robotization leads to a 1.8 percent increase in the gender pay gap. These results are driven by countries with high initial levels of gender inequality and can be explained by the fact that men at medium- and high-skill occupations disproportionately benefit from robotization, through a productivity effect. We rule out the possibility that our results are driven by mechanical changes in the gender composition of the workforce." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2021 Elsevier) ((en))

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Alekseeva, Liudmila, José Azar, Mireia Giné, Sampsa Samila & Bledi Taska (2021): The demand for AI skills in the labor market. In: Labour Economics, Jg. 71. DOI:10.1016/j.labeco.2021.102002

Abstract

"Using detailed data on skill requirements in online vacancies, we estimate the demand for AI specialists across occupations, sectors, and firms. We document a dramatic increase in the demand for AI skills over 2010–2019 in the U.S. economy across most industries and occupations. The demand is highest in IT occupations, followed by architecture and engineering, scientific, and management occupations. Firms with larger market capitalization, higher cash holdings, and higher investments in R&D have a higher demand for AI skills. We also document a wage premium of 11% for job postings that require AI skills within the same firm and 5% within the same job title. Managerial occupations have the highest wage premium for AI skills. Firms demanding AI skills more intensively also offer higher salaries in non-AI jobs." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2021 Elsevier) ((en))

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Belloc, Filippo, Gabriel Burdín, Luca Cattani, William Ellis & Fabio Landini (2021): Coevolution of Job Automation Risk and Workplace Governance. (IZA discussion paper 14788), Bonn, 58 S.

Abstract

"This paper analyzes the interplay between the allocation of authority within firms and workers' exposure to automation risk. We propose an evolutionary model to study the complementary fit of job design and workplace governance as resulting from the adoption of worker voice institutions, in particular employee representation (ER). Two organisational conventions are likely to emerge in our framework: in one, workplace governance is based on ER and job designs have low automation risk; in the other, ER is absent and workers are involved in automation-prone production tasks. Using data from a large sample of European workers, we document that automation risk is negatively associated with the presence of ER, consistently with our theoretical framework. Our analysis helps to rationalize the historical experience of Nordic countries, where simultaneous experimentation with codetermination rights and job enrichment programs has taken place. Policy debates about the consequences of automation on labour organization should avoid technological determinism and devote more attention to socio-institutional factors shaping the future of work." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Bertinelli, Luisito, Olivier Cardi & Romain Restout (2021): Labor Market Effects Of Technology Shocks Biased Toward The Traded Sector. (Documents de travail / Bureau d'Économie Théorique et Appliquée 2021-09), Sraßburg, 154 S.

Abstract

"Motivated by recent evidence pointing at an increasing contribution of asymmetric shocks across sectors to economic fluctuations, we explore the labor market effects of technology shocks biased toward the traded sector. Our VAR evidence for seventeen OECD countries reveals that the non-traded sector alone drives the increase in total hours worked following a technology shock that increases permanently traded relative to non-traded TFP. The shock gives rise to a reallocation of labor which contributes to 35% on average of the rise in non-traded hours worked. Both labor reallocation and variations in labor income shares are found empirically connected with factor-biased technological change. Our quantitative analysis shows that a two-sector open economy model with flexible prices can reproduce the labor market effects we document empirically once we allow for technological change biased toward labor together with additional specific elements. When calibrating the model to country-specific data, its ability to account for the cross-country reallocation and redistributive effects we estimate increases once we let factor-biased technological change vary between sectors and across countries." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Borelli, Silvia & Sofia Gualandi (2021): Which social security regime for platform workers in Italy? In: International social security review, Jg. 74, H. 3/4, S. 133-154. DOI:10.1111/issr.12281

Abstract

"Dieser Artikel wirft ein Licht auf die Debatte über die Regeln der sozialen Sicherheit, die für Plattformbeschäftigte in Italien gelten. Da die Systeme der sozialen Sicherheit nach Beschäftigungsart und Selbstständigkeit unterscheiden, werden hier Präzedenzfälle im italienischen Recht beschrieben, in denen es um den Beschäftigungsstatus von Plattformarbeitnehmern geht. Sodann werden die italienische Gesetzgebung, das Fallrecht und die Tarifverträge im Zusammenhang mit dem Arbeitsschutz skizziert, und es wird erklärt, auf welche Deckung Beschäftigte von Plattformen bei Arbeitsunfällen oder Berufskrankheiten Anrecht haben. Im Vordergrund stehen dabei die Auswirkungen der COVID-19-Pandemie. Außerdem werden die beiden wichtigsten Mindesteinkommenssysteme Italiens und die entsprechenden wissenschaftlichen Debatten nachgezeichnet, und es wird darauf eingegangen, welche Auswirkungen diese Systeme darauf haben, dass die digitalen Arbeitsplattformen sich ihrer Verantwortung hinsichtlich der Arbeitnehmerrechte, einschließlich des Zugangs zu einem angemessenen Sozialschutz, entziehen können." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku, Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons)

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Busemeyer, Marius R. & Tobias Tober (2021): Sozialtransfers, Weiterbildung, kürzere Arbeitszeiten? Die sozialpolitischen Prioritäten von Arbeitnehmer*innen im Zeitalter der Automatisierung. (Policy paper / Universität Konstanz, Cluster of Excellence "The Politics of Inequality" 08 (DE)), Konstanz, 9 S.

Abstract

"Robotisierung, Automatisierung und Digitalisierung verändern die Arbeitsmärkte weltweit - umso mehr, seit die Pandemie die Abhängigkeit unserer Wirtschaft von bestimmten Berufszweigen aufgezeigt hat. Welche Antworten auf diesen Wandel erwarten die Bürger*innen von ihren Regierungen? Unsere Studie in 24 OECD-Ländern zeigt: Es herrscht große Besorgnis über technologiebedingte Arbeitsplatzrisiken, der technologische Wandel weckt aber auch Hoffnungen. Aus- und Fortbildungsmaßnahmen stoßen auf breite Zustimmung. Diejenigen, deren Arbeitsplatz aber konkret in Gefahr ist, erwarten für die Zeit der Arbeitslosigkeit vor allem kurzfristige, materielle Unterstützung. Die Politik sollte darum eine Balance zwischen notwendigen Investitionen in die digitale Wissensökonomie und sozialen Transferleistungen finden." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)

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Cette, Gilbert, Aurélien Devillard & Vincenzo Spiezia (2021): The contribution of robots to productivity growth in 30 OECD countries over 1975–2019. In: Economics Letters, Jg. 200. DOI:10.1016/j.econlet.2021.109762

Abstract

"Using a new and original database, our paper contributes to the growth accounting literature by singling out the contribution of robots through two channels: capital deepening and TFP. The contribution of robots to productivity growth through capital deepening and TFP appears to have been significant in Germany and Japan in the sub-period 1975–1995 and in several Eastern European countries in 2005–2019. However, robotization does not appear to be the source of a significant revival in productivity." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2021 Elsevier) ((en))

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Chernoff, Alex & Casey Warman (2021): COVID-19 and Implications for Automation. (Staff working paper / Bank of Canada 2021,25), Ottawa, 29 S.

Abstract

"COVID-19 may accelerate the automation of jobs as employers invest in technology to safeguard against pandemics. We identify occupations that have high automation potential and also exhibit a high risk of viral infection. We examine regional variation in terms of which U.S. local labor markets are most at risk. Next, we outline the differential impacts COVID-19 may have on different demographic groups. We find that the highest-risk occupations in the U.S. are those held by females with mid- to low wage and education levels. Using comparable data for 25 other countries, we also find that women in this demographic are at the highest risk internationally. We examine monthly employment data from the U.S. and find that women in high-risk occupations experienced a larger initial decline in employment and a weaker recovery during the pandemic." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Cnossen, Femke, Matloob Piracha & Guy Tchuente (2021): Learning the Right Skill: The Returns to Social, Technical and Basic Skills for Middle-Educated Graduates. (GLO discussion paper / Global Labor Organization 979), Essen, 42 S.

Abstract

"Technological change and globalization have sparked debates on the changing demand for skills in western labour markets, especially for middle skilled workers who have seen their tasks replaced. This paper provides a new data set, which is based on text data from curricula of the entire Dutch vocational education system. We extract verbs and nouns to measure social, technical and basic skills in a novel way. This method allows us to uncover the skills middle-skilled students learn in school. Using this data, we show that skill returns vary across students specialized in STEM, economics or health, as well as across sectors of employment." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Kilhoffer, Zachary, Leonie Westhoff, Doina Postica & Farzaneh Shamsfakhr (2021): Digital labour platforms in the EU. Mapping and business models : final report. Brüssel, 150 S. DOI:10.2767/224624

Abstract

"This is the final report of the study on ‘Digital labour platforms in the EU: Mapping and business models’ for the Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion (DG EMPL). In total, 516 active and another 74 inactive digital labour platforms (DLPs) in the EU27 have been identified. For each of these DLPs, information on the business model has been collected and analysed. Moreover, for a sample of 38 DLPs, details on the working conditions have been collected and analysed for one or more countries. This study illustrates that DLPs have grown rapidly in the last five years, though still small in size with EUR 14 billion in activity. DLPs act as intermediaries for a large range of activities, including freelance, contest-based, microtask, taxi, delivery, home and professional services. DLPs intermediating the same services often follow similar business models, nevertheless the working conditions can differ between these platforms and even for the same platform across countries." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Demirel, Pelin, Ekaterina Nemkova & Rebecca Taylor (2021): Reproducing Global Inequalities in the Online Labour Market: Valuing Capital in the Design Field. In: Work, Employment and Society, Jg. 35, H. 5, S. 914-930. DOI:10.1177/0950017020942447

Abstract

"Millions of freelancers work on digital platforms in the online labour market (OLM). The OLM´s capacity to both undermine and reproduce labour inequalities is a theme in contemporary platform economy debates. What is less well understood is how processes of social (re)production take place in practice for diverse freelancers on global platforms. Drawing on a study of freelance designers, we use Bourdieus notions of capital and field to explore the specific rules of the game and the symbolic valuing of skills and identities that secure legitimacy and advantage in the OLM. We contribute to contemporary debates by illuminating the power of Global North actors to shape freelancer positions and hierarchies in the online design field. The cost advantages of Global South workers are counterbalanced by the symbolic legitimising of specific cultural and social practices (specifically in relation to language) and the devaluing of others." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Domini, Giacomo, Marco Grazzi, Daniele Moschella & Tania Treibich (2021): For Whom the Bell Tolls: The Firm-Level Effects of Automation on Wage and Gender Inequality. (JRC working papers series on labour, education and technology 2021,15), Sevilla, 43 S.

Abstract

"This paper investigates the impact of investment in automation- and AI- related goods on within-firm wage inequality in the French economy during the period 2002-2017. We document that most of wage inequality in France is accounted for by differences among workers belonging to the same firm, rather than by differences between sectors, firms, and occupations. Using an event-study approach on a sample of firms importing automation and AI-related goods, we find that spike events related to the adoption of automation- or AI-related capital goods are not followed by an increase in within-firm wage nor in gender inequality. Instead, wages increase by 1% three years after the events at different percentiles of the distribution. Our findings are not linked to a rent-sharing behavior of firms obtaining productivity gains from automation or AI adoption. Instead, if the wage gains do not differ across workers along the wage distribution, worker heterogeneity is still present. Indeed, aligned with the framework in Abowd et al.(1999b), most of the overall wage increase is due to the hiring of new employees. This adds to previous findings showing picture of a `labor friendly' effect of the latest wave of new technologies within adopting firms." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Döhring, Björn, Atanas Hristov, Christoph Maier, Werner Röger & Anna Thum-Thysen (2021): COVID-19 acceleration in digitalisation, aggregate productivity growth and the functional income distribution. In: International economics and economic policy, Jg. 18, H. 3, S. 571-604. DOI:10.1007/s10368-021-00511-8

Abstract

"This paper characterises the conventional and the digital sector of the EU economy since the late 90s and introduces a two sector growth model which highlights structural differences between the two sectors. In contrast to conventional goods and services, digital goods and services are more easily scalable but require more upfront intangible investment. These features require consideration of fixed costs and a departure from perfect competition and raise issues about market entry. Another important dimension is the skill demand of both sectors, with the latter requiring a larger share of workers with digital skills. Since COVID-19 is expected to induce a persistent increase of demand for digital services, we use this model to estimate the likely economic impacts. We are in particular interested how the digital transition is affecting the labour market and the functional distribution of income. The paper shows how the distribution of economic rents between workers with digital skills and platforms is determined by labour supply conditions and entry barriers. This suggests that there is a role for competition policy and labour market policies to support the digital transition." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © Springer-Verlag) ((en))

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Erebak, Serkan & Tülay Turgut (2021): Anxiety about the speed of technological development: Effects on job insecurity, time estimation, and automation level preference. In: The Journal of High Technology Management Research, Jg. 32, H. 2. DOI:10.1016/j.hitech.2021.100419

Abstract

"Technology is developing rapidly. Every year, new products and services are produced that may affect the way employees work in organizations. Following and adapting to technological developments may be an individual challenge. People may experience anxiety in this process. Also, automation technologies may lead to a perception that individuals may lose their jobs soon. This may affect employees' choices in the possible human-robot collaboration process. In this study, we reached out to employees from various sectors via internet survey. The statistical analyses showed that concerns about the speed of technology affects employees' job insecurity caused by robots and the perception of job insecurity related to their work affects the level of automation they prefer in robots. New studies on this subject may contribute to the efficiency of human-robot cooperation which is expected to happen soon. Also, it may contribute to highlighting the anxiety experienced by employees during the development of technology." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Freier, Carolin, Joachim König, Arne Manzeschke & Barbara Städtler-Mach (Hrsg.) (2021): Gegenwart und Zukunft sozialer Dienstleistungsarbeit. Chancen und Risiken der Digitalisierung in der Sozialwirtschaft. (Perspektiven Sozialwirtschaft und Sozialmanagement), Wiesbaden: Springer VS, 477 S. DOI:10.1007/978-3-658-32556-5

Abstract

"Der Band skizziert und diskutiert den digitalen Wandel in der Sozialwirtschaft. Internationale Beiträge aus der Praxis und Wissenschaft Sozialer Arbeit sowie dem Gesundheits- und Pflegebereich beschreiben, wie digitale Technologien den Alltag von Beschäftigten und deren Klient*innen prägen (werden). Enorme Chancen und gleichzeitig erhebliche Risiken dieses Wandels werden dabei debattiert, etwa mit Blick auf die Arbeitswelten, Professionen, soziale Teilhabe und daraus abzuleitende ethische Implikationen. Den Leser*innen bieten sich Praxiseinblicke, wissenschaftliche Analysen, Handlungsempfehlungen und Reflexionspotentiale, um soziale Dienstleistungsarbeit im Heute und Morgen (mit) zu gestalten." (Autorenreferat, © 2021 Springer)

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Frey, Philipp (2021): Visions of Automation: A Comparative Discussion of Two Approaches. In: Societies, Jg. 11, H. 2, S. 1-21. DOI:10.3390/soc11020063

Abstract

"In recent years, fears of technological unemployment have (re-)emerged strongly in public discourse. In response, policymakers and researchers have tried to gain a more nuanced understanding of the future of work in an age of automation. In these debates, it has become common practice to signal expertise on automation by referencing a plethora of studies, rather than limiting oneself to the careful discussion of a small number of selected papers whose epistemic limitations one might actually be able to grasp comprehensively. This paper addresses this shortcoming. I will first give a very general introduction to the state of the art of research on potentials for automation, using the German case as an example. I will then provide an in-depth analysis of two studies of the field that exemplify two competing approaches to the question of automatability: studies that limit themselves to discussing technological potentials for automation on the one hand, and macroeconomic scenario methods that claim to provide more concrete assessments of the connection between job losses (or job creation) and technological innovation in the future on the other. Finally, I will provide insight into the epistemic limitations and the specific vices and virtues of these two approaches from the perspective of critical social theory, thereby contributing to a more enlightened and reflexive debate on the future of automation." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Fudurich, James, Lena Suchanek & Lise Pichette (2021): Adoption of digital technologies. Insights from a global survey initiative. (Staff discussion paper / Bank of Canada 2021-7), Ottawa, 44 S.

Abstract

"The Bank of Canada, together with a global network of central banks, recently surveyed more than 6,000 firms from around the world. Using the survey data, this paper assesses the effects of digitalization on firms’ pricing and employment decisions. Specifically, we examine firms’ expectations about how their adoption of digital technologies—such as e-commerce, cloud computing, big data, 3-D printing, the Internet of Things, robotics and artificial intelligence— will affect their prices and hiring plans. Digital technologies influence firms’ operations in several ways that can often offset each other. This makes it difficult to pin down the overall impact on prices. Survey results for Canada suggest that some firms expect some downward pressure on prices from (1) efficiency gains, for example from automation, made possible by digital technology and (2) increased online competition and cost compression in the supply chain. Other firms expect that the value added to their products from adopting digital technologies will allow them to charge higher prices. In addition, some firms anticipate that they will have to pass on the costs of adoption to customers. Firms also expect a marginal negative effect on their employment over the next three years as a result of technology-induced automation or productivity gains. This negative effect will largely be offset by more hiring of digital talent or to accommodate stronger sales. Using matching techniques to control for differences in sample size and composition as well as survey frames, we find that, compared with small and medium-sized firms, large firms are more likely to adopt digital technologies and more likely to expect negative effects on both employment and prices" (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Georgieff, Alexandre & Anna Milanez (2021): What happened to jobs at high risk of automation? (OECD social, employment and migration working papers 255), Paris, 67 S. DOI:10.1787/10bc97f4-en

Abstract

"This study looks at what happened to jobs at risk of automation over the past decade and across 21 countries. There is no support for net job destruction at the broad country level. All countries experienced employment growth over the past decade and countries that faced higher automation risk back in 2012 experienced higher employment growth over the subsequent period. At the occupational level, however, employment growth has been much lower in jobs at high risk of automation (6%) than in jobs at low risk (18%). Low-educated workers were more concentrated in high-risk occupations in 2012 and have become even more concentrated in these occupations since then. In spite of this, the low growth in jobs in high-risk occupations has not led to a drop in the employment rate of low-educated workers relative to that of other education groups. This is largely because the number of low-educated workers has fallen in line with the demand for these workers. Going forward, however, the risk of automation is increasingly falling on low-educated workers and the COVID-19 crisis may have accelerated automation, as companies reduce reliance on human labour and contact between workers, or re-shore some production." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Georgieff, Alexandre & Raphaela Hyee (2021): Artificial intelligence and employment: New cross-country evidence. (OECD social, employment and migration working papers 265), Paris, 60 S. DOI:10.1787/c2c1d276-en

Abstract

"Recent years have seen impressive advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and this has stoked renewed concern about the impact of technological progress on the labour market, including on worker displacement. This paper looks at the possible links between AI and employment in a cross-country context. It adapts the AI occupational impact measure developed by Felten, Raj and Seamans (2018[1]; 2019[2]) – an indicator measuring the degree to which occupations rely on abilities in which AI has made the most progress – and extends it to 23 OECD countries. The indicator, which allows for variations in AI exposure across occupations, as well as within occupations and across countries, is then matched to Labour Force Surveys, to analyse the relationship with employment. Over the period 2012-2019, employment grew in nearly all occupations analysed. Overall, there appears to be no clear relationship between AI exposure and employment growth. However, in occupations where computer use is high, greater exposure to AI is linked to higher employment growth. The paper also finds suggestive evidence of a negative relationship between AI exposure and growth in average hours worked among occupations where computer use is low. While further research is needed to identify the exact mechanisms driving these results, one possible explanation is that partial automation by AI increases productivity directly as well as by shifting the task composition of occupations towards higher value-added tasks. This increase in labour productivity and output counteracts the direct displacement effect of automation through AI for workers with good digital skills, who may find it easier to use AI effectively and shift to non-automatable, higher-value added tasks within their occupations. The opposite could be true for workers with poor digital skills, who may not be able to interact efficiently with AI and thus reap all potential benefits of the technology." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Guerrero, María Luisa Pérez & Miguel Rodríguez-Piñero Royo (2021): Social security for Spain's platform workers: Self-employed or employee status? In: International social security review, Jg. 74, H. 3/4, S. 177-194. DOI:10.1111/issr.12283

Abstract

"Bisherige Studien zum Schutz von Plattformarbeitnehmern in Spanien haben sich auf Fahrradkuriere konzentriert, die Mahlzeiten zu Kunden nach Hause liefern und deren Dienstleistungen über einige der bekanntesten Plattformen der sozialen und wirtschaftlichen Szene des Landes angeboten werden. Die meisten dieser Arbeitnehmer sind durch das System der sozialen Sicherheit für Selbstständige gedeckt. In einem Urteil des Obersten Gerichtshofs vom 25. September 2020 wurde das Verhältnis zwischen Glovo und seinen Kurieren jedoch als Angestelltenverhältnis gewertet. Dieses Urteil hat die Perspektiven für digitale Plattformen verändert und dazu geführt, dass die spanische Regierung die Plattformarbeit in Spanien nun reguliert. Dennoch gelten die staatlichen Regeln nur für Kuriere, obwohl auch viele andere Beschäftigtengruppen in derselben Lage sind. Dieser Artikel befasst sich mit der derzeitigen Stellung der spanischen Plattformbeschäftigten innerhalb des Systems der sozialen Sicherheit und mit den jüngsten Gerichtsurteilen." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku, Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons)

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Haidar, Julieta & Miska Keune (Hrsg.) (2021): Work and Labour Relations in Global Platform Capitalism. (ILERA Publication series), Cheltenham: Elgar, 288 S. DOI:10.4337/9781802205138

Abstract

"This engaging and timely book provides an in-depth analysis of work and labour relations within global platform capitalism with a specific focus on digital platforms that organise labour processes, known as labour platforms. Well-respected contributors thoroughly examine both online and offline platforms, their distinct differences and the important roles they play for both large transnational companies and those with a smaller global reach." (Author's abstract, © Edward Elgar Publishing) ((en))

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Haslberger, Matthias (2021): Routine-biased technological change does not always lead to polarisation: Evidence from 10 OECD countries, 1995–2013. In: Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, Jg. 74. DOI:10.1016/j.rssm.2021.100623

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Im, Zhen Jie & Kathrin Komp-Leukkunen (2021): Automation and public support for workfare. In: Journal of European Social Policy, Jg. 31, H. 4, S. 457-472. DOI:10.1177/09589287211002432

Abstract

"Automation has permeated workplaces and threatens labour in the production process. Concurrently, European governments have expanded workfare which imposes stringent conditions and sanctions on unemployed workers after the onset of austerity. We explore how automation risk affects workfare support. Recent research finds that most routine workers ‘survive’ in their routine jobs. Despite avoiding unemployment, routine workers may face the threat of status decline as automation erodes the value of routine work. They may respond by differentiating themselves from lower-ranked social groups such as unemployed workers. Such boundary drawing may manifest views that the unemployed are less deserving of welfare. We thus posit that routine workers may support workfare to assuage their fears of status decline. We further explore if worsening economic hardship, proxied as rising unemployment rates over time, increases their support for workfare. We conducted pooled and multilevel analyses using data from the European Social Survey. We find that routine workers significantly support workfare. We also find that routine workers support workfare when economic hardship worsens, but oppose it when conditions ameliorate. Findings suggest that status threat is an important channel by which automation risk may affect workfare support, but its impact depends on social context, hence yielding country-differences. Worsening economic hardship may exacerbate routine workers’ status decline fears, and intensify their harsh views against unemployed workers. Automation risk may thus have a greater impact on workfare support under such conditions. Policymakers can use these findings to assess how workfare may be publicly received and under various economic conditions." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Jacqueson, Catherine (2021): Platform work, social protection and flexicurity in Denmark. In: International social security review, Jg. 74, H. 3/4, S. 39-59. DOI:10.1111/issr.12277

Abstract

"Sind die „Arbeitnehmer“ von Online-Plattformen wirksam und angemessen gegen soziale Risiken und gegen Arbeitsmarktrisiken geschützt? Der Artikel untersucht diese grundlegende Frage vor dem Hintergrund des dänischen Arbeitsmarkts, der dafür bekannt ist, dass die Arbeitsplatzunsicherheit hoch, das System der sozialen Sicherheit jedoch eher großzügig ist. Die Autorin kommt zum Schluss, dass das gesetzliche System der sozialen Sicherheit Dänemarks eine notwendige Abfederung gegen Risiken bietet, aber auch Schutzlücken aufweist, was die Deckungswirksamkeit und die Leistungsangemessenheit des Systems in Frage stellt." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku, Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons)

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Kariel, Joel (2021): Job Creators or Job Killers? Heterogeneous Effects of Industrial Robots on UK Employment. In: Labour, Jg. 35, H. 1, S. 52-78. DOI:10.1111/labr.12192

Abstract

"There is concern about robots taking our jobs. This analysis looks at the impact of industrial robot adoption in the UK. Using a novel instrument to deal with endogeneity of robot adoption, estimates suggest that higher robot use is associated with increased employment and some evidence of a positive effect on part-time pay, contrary to evidence from other countries. However, there is a large amount of heterogeneity across industries. The results show that industrial robots have directly replaced workers in automobile manufacturing. On the other hand, they have had positive effects on other areas of the labour market such as services." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons) ((en))

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Klump, Rainer, Anne Jurkat & Florian Schneider (2021): Tracking the rise of robots: A survey of the IFR database and its applications. (MPRA paper / University Library of Munich 110390), München, 73 S.

Abstract

"Robots are continuously transforming industrial production worldwide and thereby also inducing changes in a variety of production-related economic and social relations. While some observers call this transformation an unprecedented "revolution", others regard it as a common pattern of capitalist development. This paper contributes to the literature on the effects of the rise of industrial robots in three ways. Firstly, we describe the historic evolution and organizational structure of the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), which collects data on the international distribution of industrial robots by country, industry, and application from industrial robot suppliers worldwide since 1993. Secondly, we extensively analyze this IFR dataset on industrial robots and point out its specificities and limitations. We develop a correspondence table between the IFR industry classification and the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC) Revision 4 and shed some light on the price development of industrial robots by compiling data on robot price indices. We further compute implicit depreciation rates inherent to the operational stocks of robots in the IFR dataset and find an average depreciation rate of aggregate robot stocks between 4% and 7% per year between 1993 and 2019. Moreover, tracking the share of industrial robots that are not classified to any industry or application we find that their share in total robot stocks has sharply declined after 2005. We also compare IFR data with other data sources such as UN Comtrade data on net imports and unit prices of industrial robots or data on robot adoption from firm-level surveys in selected countries. Thirdly, we provide a comprehensive overview of the empirical research on industrial robots that is based on the IFR dataset. We identify four important strands of research on the rise of robots: (i) patterns of robot adoption and industrial organization, (ii) productivity and growth effect of robot adoption, (iii) its impact on employment and wages, and (iv) its influence on demographics, health, and politics." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Kogan, Leonid, Dimitris Papanikolaou, Lawrence D. W. Schmidt & Bryan Seegmiller (2021): Technology-Skill Complementarity and Labor Displacement: Evidence from Linking Two Centuries of Patents with Occupations. (NBER working paper 29552), Cambridge, Mass, 66 S. DOI:10.3386/w29552

Abstract

"We construct new technology indicators using textual analysis of patent documents and occupation task descriptions that span almost two centuries (1850–2010). At the industry level, improvements in technology are associated with higher labor productivity but a decline in the labor share. Exploiting variation in the extent certain technologies are related to specific occupations, we show that technological innovation has been largely associated with worse labor market outcomes—wages and employment—for incumbent workers in related occupations using a combination of public-use and confidential administrative data. Panel data on individual worker earnings reveal that less educated, older, and more highly-paid workers experience significantly greater declines in average earnings and earnings risk following related technological advances. We reconcile these facts with the standard view of technology-skill complementarity using a model that allows for skill displacement." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Koster, Sierdjan & Claudia Brunori (2021): What to do when the robots come? Non-formal education in jobs affected by automation. In: International Journal of Manpower, Jg. 42, H. 8, S. 1397-1419. DOI:10.1108/IJM-06-2020-0314

Abstract

"Purpose: Ongoing automation processes may render a fair share of the existing jobs redundant or change their nature. This begs the question to what extent employees affected invest in training in order to strengthen their labour market position in times of uncertainty. Given the different national labour market regimes and institutions, there may be an important geographical dimension to the opportunities to cope with the challenges set by automation. The purpose of this study is to address both issues. Design/methodology/approach: Using data from the 2016 European labour Force Survey, the authors estimate with logit and multi-level regression analyses how the automation risk of a worker's job is associated with the propensity of following non-formal education/training. The authors allow this relationship to vary across European countries. Findings: The results show that employees in jobs vulnerable to automation invest relatively little in training. Also, there are significant differences across Europe in both the provision of training in general and the effect of automation on training provision. Originality/value: While there is quite a lot of research on the structural labour market effects of automation, relatively little is known about the actions that employees take to deal with the uncertainty they are faced with. This article aims to contribute to our understanding of such mechanisms underlying the structural macro-level labour-market dynamics." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © Emerald Group) ((en))

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Kremer, Monique, Robert Went & Godfried Engbersen (2021): Better Work. The Impact of Automation, Flexibilization and Intensification of Work. (Research for Policy), Cham: Imprint: Springer, X, 204 S. DOI:10.1007/978-3-030-78682-3

Abstract

"This is an Open Access book. How can we make work better? It is an important question, one that the Dutch government, employers' organizations and trade unions have been grappling with. People work to make money. But work also inspires self-respect, shapes our identity and gives us a sense of belonging – especially when the work we do is good. Good work is essential to prosperity in the broadest sense: to the quality of life we experience as individuals, to the economy and to society as a whole. Work in the Netherlands could be better. In Better Work. The automation, flexibilization and intensification of work, the Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy offers nine recommendations to help all workers gain more control over their money, their work and their lives – the three basic conditions of good work. While the primary responsibility for good work lies with employers, the government can help through legislation and regulations, supervision and subsidies, and through its tenders." (Provided by publisher)

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Lechowski, Grzegorz (2021): Die Industriecloud als zweite Chance. Europas neuer Anlauf in der globalen Plattformökonomie. In: WZB-Mitteilungen H. 171, S. 35-37.

Abstract

"In der Plattformökonomie haben europäische Unternehmen den Anschluss an die globale Konkurrenz verloren. Die jetzt aufkommende Welle der industriegetriebenen Digitalisierung wird aber neue Chancen für Plattforminnovationen in Europa mit sich bringen. Da die Innovationspotenziale einheimischer Technologieunternehmen allerdings eher begrenzt sind, dürften die neuen digitalen Industriepolitiken der EU und einzelner Mitgliedsstaaten entscheidend für die Entwicklung des europäischen Industriecloud-Sektors sein. Sein Erfolg könnte dabei den Weg zu einer pluralistischeren globalen Plattformökonomie eröffnen." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)

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Magoga-Sabatier, Sabrine & Anne-Sylvie Dupont (2021): Social security coverage for platform workers in Switzerland: A middle way? In: International social security review, Jg. 74, H. 3/4, S. 195-216. DOI:10.1111/issr.12284

Abstract

"Dieser Artikel vergleicht die Deckung der sozialen Sicherheit von Selbstständigen und Angestellten, die in der Schweiz für digitale Plattformen arbeiten. Es wird auf die Besonderheiten eingegangen, die in der Schweiz zu einer Verlangsamung der Reaktion der Sozialversicherungsgesetzgebung auf neu entstehende Arbeitsformen geführt haben, und die im Fallrecht umgesetzten Lösungen werden zusammengefasst. Diese Lösungen werden nun zwar genauer angepasst, tendieren aber allgemein zu einer Neueinstufung dieser Arbeitsverhältnisse als lohnabhängige Beschäftigung. Schließlich werden die verfügbaren Optionen diskutiert, die sich trotz des Zögerns der Schweizer Behörden, politische Schritte einzuleiten, um diese neuen Arbeitsformen mit ihrem bedeutenden wirtschaftlichen Potenzial zu fördern, ergeben, während der Gesetzgeber gleichzeitig dem Risiko prekärer Arbeit vorzubeugen versucht." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku, Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons)

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Marta, Fana & Giangregorio Luca (2021): Routine-biased technical change can fail. Evidence from France. (JRC working papers series on labour, education and technology 2021,14), Sevilla, 42 S.

Abstract

"The paper studies the determinants of wage differentials over time within jobs in France, detailing the contribution of different set of explanatory factors by means of a Recentred Influence Function, to estimate the effect of a set of covariates at different point of the wage distribution. We simultaneously test the contribution of tasks performed by workers and organisational methods at the firm level, labour market institutions and individual characteristics. We do so by exploiting a unique database at the worker level, the French Enquête Complémentaire Emploi: Conditions de travail, between 2005 and 2016, which covers also monthly wages. Main findings support the hypothesis according to which wages differentials along the wage distribution are almost entirely explained by contractual and work arrangements rather than tasks and organisational practices. Overall evidence run against the main argument of the Routine Bias Technical Change hypothesis" (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Martindale, Nicholas & Vili Lehdonvirta (2021): Can labour market digitalization increase social mobility? Evidence from a European survey of online platform workers. (SocArXiv papers), 21 S. DOI:10.31235/osf.io/54aqh

Abstract

"Children tend to inherit their parents’ social class through the types of jobs they get. However, digital technologies are now transforming the way labour markets work. Candidates are increasingly screened using algorithmic decision making. Skills are validated with online tests and customer feedback ratings. Workplace communications take place over digital media. Could these transformations be undermining the advantages that have accrued to workers with posh accents, family connections, and expensively acquired educational qualifications? We examine this question with survey data from the online (remote) platform economy, a labour market segment in which these digital transformations have progressed furthest (N = 983). The results reveal that online platform workers come largely from privileged class backgrounds. Class also influences (via education) what types of online occupations workers do, from professional services to data entry. However, class background has surprisingly little influence on job quality, which is instead shaped by individual digital metrics such as feedback ratings. These findings cannot be fully reconciled with theories of a shift towards meritocracy nor with theories of a persisting influence of class origins. Instead, labour market digitalization may be decoupling inherited occupation from job quality." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Martins-Neto, Antonio, Nanditha Mathew, Pierre Mohnen & Tania Treibich (2021): Is There Job Polarization in Developing Economies? A Review and Outlook. (CESifo working paper 9444), München, 45 S.

Abstract

"This paper analyses the evidence of job polarization in developing countries. We carry out an extensive review of the existing empirical literature and examine the primary data sources and measures of routine intensity. The synthesis of results suggests that job polarization in emerging economies is only incipient compared to other advanced economies. We then examine the possible moderating aspects preventing job polarization, discussing the main theoretical channels and the existing empirical literature. Overall, the literature relates the lack of polarization as a natural consequence of limited technology adoption and the offshoring of routine, middle-earning jobs to some host developing economies. In turn, the limited technology adoption results from suboptimal capabilities in those economies, including the insufficient supply of educated workers. Finally, we present the main gaps in the literature in developing economies and point to the need for more micro-level studies focusing on the impacts of technology adoption on workers' careers and studies exploring the adoption and use of technologies at the firm level." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Moll, Benjamin, Lukasz Rachel & Pascual Restrepo (2021): Uneven Growth: Automation's Impact on Income and Wealth Inequality. (NBER working paper 28440), Cambridge, MA, 45 S. DOI:10.3386/w28440

Abstract

"The benefits of new technologies accrue not only to high-skilled labor but also to owners of capital in the form of higher capital incomes. This increases inequality. To make this argument, we develop a tractable theory that links technology to the personal income and wealth distributions – and not just that of wages – and use it to study the distributional effects of automation. We isolate a new theoretical mechanism: automation increases inequality via returns to wealth. The flip side of such return movements is that automation is more likely to lead to stagnant wages and therefore stagnant incomes at the bottom of the distribution. We use a multi-asset model extension to confront differing empirical trends in returns to productive and safe assets and show that the relevant return measures have increased over time. Automation accounts for part of the observed trends in income and wealth inequality and macroeconomic aggregates." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Montebovi, Saskia (2021): Accommodating platform work as a new form of work in Dutch social security law: New work, same rules? In: International social security review, Jg. 74, H. 3/4, S. 61-83. DOI:10.1111/issr.12278

Abstract

"In den Niederlanden sind die Rechte der sozialen Sicherheit von Plattformbeschäftigten noch immer nicht formell verankert. Derzeit leitet sich das Sozialschutzniveau aller Arten von Beschäftigten direkt von ihrer arbeitsrechtlichen Einstufung ab. Da es in den Niederlanden weiterhin an besonderen gesetzlichen Vorgaben für Plattformbeschäftigte fehlt, insbesondere was das Arbeitsrecht und das Recht der sozialen Sicherheit anbelangt, gibt die aktuell bestehende Gesetzgebung den Weg vor. Dies bedeutet, dass Plattformbeschäftigte entweder als Angestellte mit dem entsprechenden weitreichenden Schutzpaket oder aber als Selbstständige mit einem eher beschränkten Sozialschutz betrachtet werden. Für die Mehrheit der Plattformbeschäftigten wird derzeit die zweite Option angewendet. Dennoch deuten die jüngsten Entwicklungen auf mögliche Verbesserungen in der Sozialversicherungssituation niederländischer Plattformbeschäftigter hin." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku, Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons)

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Montobbio, Fabio, Jacopo Staccioli & Marco Vivarelli (2021): Labour-saving automation and occupational exposure: A text-similarity measure. (UNU-MERIT Working Paper 2021,44), Maastricht, 37 S.

Abstract

"This paper represents one of the first attempts at building a direct measure of occupational exposure to robotic labour-saving technologies. After identifying robotic and LS robotic patents retrieved by Montobbio et al. (2022), the underlying 4-digit CPC definitions are employed in order to detect functions and operations performed by technological artefacts which are more directed to substitute the labour input. This measure allows to obtain fine-grained information on tasks and occupations according to their similarity ranking. Occupational exposure by wage and employment dynamics in the United States is then studied, complemented by investigating industry and geographical penetration rates." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Montobbio, Fabio, Jacopo Staccioli, Maria Enrica Virgillito & Marco Vivarelli (2021): Labour-saving automation and occupational exposure: a text-similarity measure. (GLO discussion paper / Global Labor Organization 987), Essen, 37 S.

Abstract

"This paper represents one of the first attempts at building a direct measure of occupational exposure to robotic labour-saving technologies. After identifying robotic and LS robotic patents retrieved by Montobbio et al. (2022), the underlying 4-digit CPC definitions are employed in order to detect functions and operations performed by technological artefacts which are more directed to substitute the labour input. This measure allows to obtain fine-grained information on tasks and occupations according to their similarity ranking. Occupational exposure by wage and employment dynamics in the United States is then studied, complemented by investigating industry and geographical penetration rates." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Muckenhuber, Johanna, Martin Griesbacher, Josef Hödl & Laura Zilian (Hrsg.) (2021): Disruption der Arbeit? Zu den Folgen der Digitalisierung im Dienstleistungssektor. Frankfurt: Campus, 260 S.

Abstract

"Wie wirken sich die zunehmende Verbreitung und die verstärkte Abhängigkeit von Produkten und Prozessen der Informations- und Kommunikationstechnik auf die Beschäftigten aus? Welche Rationalisierungs- und Automatisierungspotenziale bieten Digitalisierung und »disruptive Technologien«, etwa mobile Roboter, Big Data und künstliche Intelligenz? Welche ökonomischen und gesundheitlichen Folgen ziehen sie nach sich? Wie verändern sich dadurch die Arbeitsplätze und -bedingungen? Dieser Band verschafft einen interdisziplinären Überblick über die Folgen der Digitalisierung am Arbeitsmarkt im privaten wie öffentlichen Service- und Dienstleistungsbereich." (Autorenreferat, © 2021 - campus Verlag)

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O'Higgins, Niall & Luis Pinedo Caro (2021): Crowdwork for Young People: Risks and Opportunities. (IZA discussion paper 14933), Bonn, 41 S.

Abstract

"In recent years, crowdworking has emerged as a small but rapidly growing source of employment and income principally for young(er) people. Here, we build on previous work in identifying the determinants of crowdworkers' earnings. We focus on the reasons why young crowdworkers earn significantly higher hourly wages than their older counterparts. We show that this is due to the higher returns to experience accruing to younger crowd-workers. Educational attainment does not explain this age-based differential, as education is a negligible factor in determining crowdworkers' earnings. We also analyse why young women earn around 20% less than their male counterparts despite blind hiring. We confirm that this is partly explained by constraints on working time faced by women with children. The analysis also shows that 'freely chosen' crowdwork - as opposed to, young people crowd-working because of a lack of alternative employment opportunities - is conducive to higher levels of job satisfaction. Moreover, young crowdworkers in middle income countries earn less than their counterparts in high income countries but report higher levels of job satisfaction. This is entirely attributable to the lower quality of their options outside of crowdwork." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Parteka, Aleksandra, Joanna Wolszczak-Derlacz & Dagmara Nikulin (2021): How digital technology affects working conditions in globally fragmented production chains: evidence from Europe. (Working paper series A / GUT Faculty of Management and Economics 66), Gdańsk, 68 S.

Abstract

"This paper uses a sample of over 9.5 million workers from 22 European countries to study the intertwined effects of digital technology and cross-border production links on workers' wellbeing. We compare the social effects of technological change exhibited by three types of innovation: computerisation (software), automation (robots) and artificial intelligence (AI). To fully quantify work-related wellbeing, we propose a new methodology that corrects the information on remuneration by reference to such non-monetary factors as the work environment (physical and social), career development prospects, or work intensity. We show that workers' wellbeing depends on the type of technological exposure. Employees in occupations with high software or robots content face worse working conditions than those exposed to AI. The impact of digitalisation on working conditions depends on participation in global production. To demonstrate this, we estimate a set of augmented models for determination of working conditions, interacting technological factors with Global Value Chain participation. GVC intensification is accompanied by deteriorating working conditions - but only in occupations exposed to robots or software, not in AI-intensive jobs. In other words, we find that AI technologies differ from previous waves of technological progress - also in their impact on workers' wellbeing within global production structures." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Reif, Magnus, Mewael F. Tesfaselassie & Maik H. Wolters (2021): Technological Growth and Hours in the Long Run: Theory and Evidence. (CESifo working paper 9140), München, 45 S.

Abstract

"Over the last decades, hours worked per capita have declined substantially in many OECD economies. Using a neoclassical growth model with endogenous work-leisure choice, we assess the role of trend growth slowdown in accounting for the decline in hours worked. In the model, a permanent reduction in technological growth decreases steady state hours worked by increasing the consumption-output ratio. Our empirical analysis exploits cross-country variation in the timing and the size of the decline in technological growth to show that technological growth has a highly significant positive effect on hours. A decline in the long-run trend of technological growth by one percentage point is associated with a decline in trend hours worked in the range of one to three percent. This result is robust to controlling for taxes, which have been found in previous studies to be an important determinant of hours. Our empirical finding is quantitatively in line with the one implied by a calibrated version of the model, though evidence for the model's implication that the effect on hours works via changes in the consumption-output ratio is rather mixed." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Riso, Sara (2021): Digitisation in the workplace. Anticipating and managing the impact of change. (Eurofound research report / European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions), Luxemburg, 64 S. DOI:10.2806/806842

Abstract

"Research into the transformative potential of the digital revolution tends to take a quantitative approach in an attempt to monitor changes in employment levels due to digitalisation. The fear of potential job losses and negative disruption brought about by digital technologies has permeated the policy debate on digitalisation. In contrast, this report, based on case study research, takes a more qualitative approach to exploring the impact of selected digital technologies (internet of things, 3D printing, and virtual and augmented reality) in the workplace. While digital technologies can bring many opportunities and have been shown to be beneficial for both workers and organisations, there is a need to put safeguards in place to ensure employee data protection and privacy. A well-functioning social dialogue is also key to reaping the benefits of digital technologies and preventing – or minimising – any negative outcomes." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Ross, Matthew (2021): The Effect of Intensive Margin Changes to Task Content on Employment Dynamics over the Business Cycle. In: ILR review, Jg. 74, H. 4, S. 1036-1064. DOI:10.1177/0019793920910747

Abstract

"Previous empirical studies investigating the employment impact of technological change have relied on cross-sectional measures of occupational tasks. Here, the author links microdata on individual workers to panel data on occupational tasks while controlling for individual unobservables. In examining the association between routine and abstract tasks and employment transitions, he finds new and economically important evidence that changes to tasks within occupations are strongly related to variation in the transition rates to non-employment and to different occupations. Consistent with recent work focused on technological change during the Great Recession, within-occupation increases in routine tasks are found to increase outgoing transition rates but these effects are concentrated during periods of economic turmoil. The results also show that increases in abstract tasks are associated with decreases in the outgoing transition rates, but this relationship is relatively invariant to business cycle conditions." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Roşioru, Felicia (2021): The social protection of platform workers in Romania: Meeting the growing demand for affordable and adequate coverage? In: International social security review, Jg. 74, H. 3/4, S. 155-175. DOI:10.1111/issr.12282

Abstract

"In einer sich wandelnden Arbeitswelt bekunden Plattformarbeitnehmer oft Mühe, einen angemessenen Schutz zu erlangen, und dazu gehört auch der wirksame Zugang zu den Leistungen des Systems der sozialen Sicherheit. Die Leistungen der sozialen Sicherheit Rumäniens zeichnen sich dadurch aus, dass der Zugang vom Arbeitseinkommen einer Person abhängt, aber vom rechtlichen Status des Arbeitnehmers (angestellt oder selbstständig) nicht beeinflusst wird. Generell sind alle Arbeitnehmer im Krankheitsfall, bei veränderten Familienverhältnissen und im Ruhestand gedeckt. Im Gegensatz dazu ist für Selbstständige die Deckung für Arbeitslosigkeits-, Arbeitsunfall- und Berufskrankheitsleistungen sowie für bezahlten Krankheitsurlaub, für Leistungen bei einer Schwangerschaft und für Leistungen bei der Pflege kranker Kinder freiwillig. Angesichts der Verbreitung von Plattformarbeit befasst sich dieser Artikel mit der besonderen Situation von Plattformbeschäftigten in Rumänien, die zwar formell durch das System der sozialen Sicherheit gedeckt sind, aber vor zahlreichen Hindernissen bezüglich Anspruchsvoraussetzungen, administrativer Formalitäten, Risiken einer automatischen Beendung des Arbeitsverhältnisses und Arbeitsmustern mit zeitweiliger Beschäftigung stehen." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku, Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons)

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Schneider-Dörr, Andreja (2021): Crowd Work und Plattformökonomie. Eine arbeitsrechtliche Fallstudie. (Arbeitsrechtliche Schriften 4), Baden-Baden: Nomos, 479 S. DOI:10.5771/9783748924548

Abstract

"Die Arbeit wendet sich der Frage zu, ob Crowd Worker auf Microtask Plattformen als ArbeitnehmerInnen einzuordnen sind. Seit Jahren ist das aus der Sicht des Arbeitsrechts umstritten, jedoch mit einer gewissen Tendenz, es eher zu verneinen. Das BAG urteilte jedoch im Dezember 2020, dass ein Crowd Worker durchaus Arbeitnehmer sein kann. Wie sind also die Umstände zu werten, die einen Crowd Worker zum (Nicht-) Arbeitnehmer machen? Das untersucht diese Arbeit. Im ersten Teil der Arbeit erfolgt ein Review verschiedener Studien zu Crowd Work, sowie eine Analyse zur Funktionsweise von Plattformen. Dabei werden auch ökonomische und organisationssoziologische betrachtet. Im zweiten Teil werden konkrete Fallanalysen aus einem Selbstversuch dargestellt, um diese arbeitsrechtlich bewerten zu können. Im dritten Teil werden zwei Aspekte eröffnet, zum einen, wie sich die Divergenz zwischen nationalem und dem europarechtlichen Arbeitnehmerbegriff bei Crowd Work erneut offenbart. Zum anderen werden neue Formen der Regulierung angestoßen: Passt beispielsweise die P2B-VO 2019/1150 nicht auf viele Probleme der Plattformarbeit? Wie ist es um ihre Anwendbarkeit auf Plattformarbeit bestellt? Wie sieht es mit aus mit „regulation by design“? Schließlich ist insgesamt zu überlegen, wie das Arbeitsrecht mit neuen Arbeitsformen und vor allem Formen neuer Organisationsmethoden zurecht kommt." (Autorenreferat, © 2021 Nomos)

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Sedik, Tahsin Saadi & Jiae Yoo (2021): Pandemics and Automation: Will the Lost Jobs Come Back? (IMF working paper 2021,11), Washington, DC, 26 S.

Abstract

"COVID-19 has exacerbated concerns about the rise of the robots and other automation technologies. This paper analyzes empirically the impact of past major pandemics on robot adoption and inequality. First, we find that pandemic events accelerate robot adoption, especially when the health impact is severe and is associated with a significant economic downturn. Second, while robots may raise productivity, they could also increase inequality by displacing low-skilled workers. We find that following a pandemic, the increase in inequality over the medium term is larger for economies with higher robot density and where new robot adoption has increased more. Our results suggest that the concerns about the rise of the robots amid the COVID-19 pandemic seem justified." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Soliman, Kariem (2021): Are Industrial Robots a new GPT? A Panel Study of Nine European Countries with Capital and Quality-adjusted Industrial Robots as Drivers of Labour Productivity Growth. (EIIW Diskussionsbeitrag 307), Wuppertal, 52 S.

Abstract

"In recent years, the interest in the field of economic research in studying the effect of robots on economic outcomes, i.e., labour productivity, labour demand and wages, has increased from an individual country perspective as well as for country groups. By using a fixed effects panel modeling approach, this study of nine robot intensive European countries shows that the core characteristics of a general purpose technology (GPT) are already satisfied by industrial robots. In 2019, seven countries in the panel, i.e. Germany, Italy, France, Spain and the UK (top 5), Sweden (7th) and Austria (10th) - in terms of operational stocks - were among the top 10 of robot using European countries (excl. Turkey). Following the understanding of a GPT of Bresnahan/Trajtenberg (1995), six panel regression models were estimated and linked to the four main characteristics of a GPT. Accordingly, two new measures are proposed in this paper; the first one is named the Division of Labour (or DoL) and is constructed by building the ratio of labour productivity inside the manufacturing industry to labour productivity across all industries. The second one is the Robot Task Intensity Index (RTII), which accounts for the number of tasks that a robot was used for in different production processes across the nine European countries. A high level of fulfilled tasks implies a higher quality of robot as the number of potential tasks, which the robot can perform, is an important criterion for the quality of that robot. In accordance with the GPT literature, both measures showed the expected (in) significances. At the bottom line, all six models underlined the economic relevance of industrial robots for the nine European countries included in the analysis and give a strong indication that robots can indeed be seen as a new general purpose technology." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Traverso, Silvio, Massimiliano Vatiero & Enrico Zaninotto (2021): Robots and Labor Regulation. A Cross-Country/Cross-Industry Analysis. (DEM working papers / Università degli studi di Trento 2021,12), Trento, 25 S.

Abstract

"This work discusses and empirically investigates the relationship between labor regulation and robotization. In particular, the empirical analysis focuses on the relationship between the discipline of workers' dismissal and the adoption of industrial robots in nineteen Western countries over the 2006-2016 period. We find that high levels of statutory employment protection have been negatively associated with robot adoption, suggesting that labor-friendly national legislations, by increasing adjustment costs (such as firing costs), and thus making investment riskier, provide less favorable environments for firms to invest in industrial robots. We also find, however, that the correlation is positively mediated by the sectoral levels of capital intensity, a hint that firms do resort to industrial robots as potential substitutes for workers to reduce employees' bargaining power and to limit their hold-up opportunities, which tend to be larger in sectors characterized by high levels of operating leverage." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Tubaro, Paola (2021): Disembedded or Deeply Embedded? A Multi-Level Network Analysis of Online Labour Platforms. In: Sociology, Jg. 55, H. 5, S. 927-944. DOI:10.1177/0038038520986082

Abstract

"This article extends the economic-sociological concept of embeddedness to encompass not only social networks of, for example, friendship or kinship ties, but also economic networks of ownership and control relationships. Applying these ideas to the case of digital platform labour pinpoints two possible scenarios. When platforms take the role of market intermediaries, economic ties are thin and workers are left to their own devices, in a form of ‘disembeddedness’. When platforms partake in intricate inter-firm outsourcing structures, economic ties envelop workers in a ‘deep embeddedness’ which involves both stronger constraints and higher rewards. With this added dimension, the notion of embeddedness becomes a compelling tool to describe the social structures that frame economic action, including the power imbalances that characterize digital labour in the global economy." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Uddén Sonnegård, Eva (2021): A quickly transforming labour market. (Ratio working paper 350), Stockholm, 18 S.

Abstract

"The Covid-19 pandemic has made it clear that the labour market situation can change extremely rapidly when there is an unexpected exogenous shock to the economy. Even though the transformation of the labour market as a result of the development of ICT (Information Communication Technology) industries facilitates more-flexible conditions, it is now more important than ever for EU Member States to improve the functioning of their labour markets. Member States need to increase possibilities for training and retraining throughout peoples' working lives in order to smooth the transformation into a digital world of work." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Wacks, Johannes (2021): Labor Market Polarization with Hand-to-Mouth Households. (Beiträge zur Jahrestagung des Vereins für Socialpolitik 2021: Climate Economics), Kiel, 73 S.

Abstract

"Over the recent decades, wide-spread automation has led to a shift of the US labor force from occupations intensive in routine tasks into occupations intensive in manual and abstract tasks. I integrate routine-biased technological change into an incomplete markets model with occupation-specific human capital. I use the model to study the transition between steady states pre and post labor market polarization in general equilibrium. When human capital is occupation-specific and wages in the routine occupations relative to the other occupations fall over time, occupational choices become dynamic investment decisions. When households are close to the borrowing constraint, their occupational choices are distorted and they optimally choose to work in the routine occupations for longer than households who have accumulated a buffer stock of savings. I show that in a counterfactual economy, in which all workers choose occupations as if they were hand-to-mouth, the fall in routine labor is protracted by about three years compared to what was actually observed. I use the model to discuss several labor market policies. Incentivizing experienced routine workers to switch to the manual or abstract occupations, by paying them a government transfer, increases social welfare and average output. Empirically, I show that the friction I study is highly relevant, as about 34% of the households working in routine occupations live hand-to-mouth." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Wolcott, Erin L. (2021): Employment inequality: Why do the low-skilled work less now? In: Journal of monetary economics, Jg. 118, S. 161-177. DOI:10.1016/j.jmoneco.2020.09.004

Abstract

"Low-skilled prime-age men are less likely to be employed than high-skilled prime-age men, and the differential has increased since the 1970s. I build a search model encompassing three explanations: (1) automation and trade reduced the demand for low-skilled workers; (2) health, welfare, and recreational gaming/computer technology reduced the supply of low-skilled workers; and (3) factors affecting job search, such as online job boards, reduced frictions for high-skilled workers. I find a shift in demand away from low-skilled workers was the leading cause, a shift in supply had little effect, and search frictions actually reduced employment inequality." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2021 Elsevier) ((en))

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OECD (2021): OECD Digital Education Outlook 2021. Pushing the Frontiers with Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain and Robots. (OECD digital education outlook 1), Paris, 249 S. DOI:10.1787/589b283f-en

Abstract

"How might digital technology and notably smart technologies based on artificial intelligence (AI), learning analytics, robotics, and others transform education? This book explores such question. It focuses on how smart technologies currently change education in the classroom and the management of educational organisations and systems. The book delves into beneficial uses of smart technologies such as learning personalisation, supporting students with special learning needs, and blockchain diploma credentialing. It also considers challenges and areas for further research. The findings offer pathways for teachers, policy makers, and educational institutions to digitalise education while optimising equity and inclusivity." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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OECD (2021): The Digital Transformation of SMEs. (OECD studies on SMEs and entrepreneurship), Paris, 272 S. DOI:10.1787/bdb9256a-en

Abstract

"Despite potentially tremendous benefits, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) lag in the digital transformation. Emerging technologies, as diverse as they are, offer a range of applications for them to improve performance and overcome the size-related limitations they face in doing business. However, SMEs must be better prepared, and stakes are high. SMEs make the most of the industrial fabric in many countries and regions, they create jobs (most jobs sometimes) and are the cement of inclusive and sustainable societies. The SME digital gap has increased inequalities among people, places and firms, and there are concerns that the benefits of the digital transformation could accrue to early adopters, further broadening these inequalities. Enabling SME digitalisation has become a top policy priority in OECD countries and beyond. The report looks at recent trends in SME digital uptake, including in the context of the COVID-19 crisis. It focuses on issues related to digital security, online platforms, blockchain ecosystems, and artificial intelligence. The report identifies opportunities, risks of not going digital, and barriers to adoption. It looks to concrete policy action taken worldwide to speed the SME transformation and raises a series of considerations to advance the SME digital policy agenda." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (2021): The next steps for apprenticeship. (CEDEFOP reference series 118), Thessaloniki, 181 S. DOI:10.2801/085907

Abstract

"In a context of considerable interest in apprenticeship in recent years, Cedefop and the OECD decided to explore its future from the perspective of a number of megatrends, including sociodemographic changes, the accelerated adoption of emerging technologies and new forms of work organisation. They also considered how these trends have affected, and will continue to affect, the design and delivery of apprenticeship in European and OECD countries. The combination of the emerging economic crisis as an aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, together with long-term structural trends affecting global economies, will entail a profound transformation of the world of work and require effective policy responses in the years to come. This publication provides insights from 16 papers by researchers from Europe, Australia and the United States; nine were presented and discussed among policy-makers, practitioners and researchers during the joint Cedefop-OECD symposium on the future of apprenticeship held in October 2019 in Paris. Evidence and analysis in these papers will help inform political decisions shaping the future of apprenticeship." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Abeliansky, Ana, Eda Algur, David E. Bloom & Klaus Prettner (2020): The future of work: Meeting the global challenges of demographic change and automation. In: International Labour Review, Jg. 159, H. 3, S. 285-306. DOI:10.1111/ilr.12168

Abstract

"This article explores future job creation needs under conditions of demographic, economic and technological change. The authors first estimate the implications for job creation during 2020-30 of population growth, changes in labour force participation and the achievement of target unemployment rates, by age and sex. Second, they analyse the job creation needs by country income group and, lastly, examine the effects of accelerated automation. Projections indicate that shifting demographics will account for a far greater share of the estimated global need for 340 million jobs over 2020-30 than automation." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons) ((en))

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Acemoglu, Daron, Claire LeLarge & Pascual Restrepo (2020): Competing with Robots: Firm-Level Evidence from France. In: AEA papers and proceedings, Jg. 110, S. 383-388. DOI:10.1257/pandp.20201003

Abstract

"We study the firm-level implications of robot adoption in France. Of 55,390 firms in our sample, 598 adopted robots between 2010 and 2015, but these firms accounted for 20 percent of manufacturing employment. Adopters experienced significant declines in labor shares, the share of production workers in employment, and increases in value added and productivity. They expand their overall employment as well. However, this expansion comes at the expense of competitors, leading to an overall negative association between adoption and employment. Robot adoption has a large impact on the labor share because adopters are larger and grow faster than their competitors." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Acemoglu, Daron & Pascual Restrepo (2020): Unpacking Skill Bias: Automation and New Tasks. In: AEA papers and proceedings, Jg. 110, S. 356-361. DOI:10.1257/pandp.20201063

Abstract

"We extend the canonical model of skill-biased technical change by modeling the allocation of tasks to factors and allowing for automation and the creation of new tasks. In our model, factor prices depend on the set of tasks they perform. Automation can reduce real wages and generate sizable changes in inequality associated with small productivity gains. New tasks can increase or reduce inequality depending on whether they are performed by skilled or unskilled workers. Industry-level data suggest that automation significantly contributed to the rising skill premium, while new tasks reduced inequality in the past but have contributed to inequality recently." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Acemoglu, Daron, David Autor, Jonathon Hazell & Pascual Restrepo (2020): AI and Jobs: Evidence from Online Vacancies. (NBER working paper 28257), Cambridge, MA, 53 S.

Abstract

"We study the impact of AI on labor markets, using establishment level data on vacancies with detailed occupational information comprising the near-universe of online vacancies in the US from 2010 onwards. We classify establishments as “AI exposed” when their workers engage in tasks that are compatible with current AI capabilities. We document rapid growth in AI related vacancies over 2010-2018 that is not limited to the Professional and Business Services and Information Technology sectors and is significantly greater in AI-exposed establishments. AI-exposed establishments are differentially eliminating vacancy postings that list a range of previously-posted skills while simultaneously posting skill requirements that were not previously listed. Establishment-level estimates suggest that AI-exposed establishments are reducing hiring in non-AI positions even as they expand AI hiring. However, we find no discernible impact of AI exposure on employment or wages at the occupation or industry level, implying that AI is currently substituting for humans in a subset of tasks but it is not yet having detectable aggregate labor market consequences." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Antón, José-Ignacio, David Klenert, Enrique Fernández-Macías, Maria Cesira Urzì Brancati & Georgios Alaveras (2020): The labour market impact of robotisation in Europe. (JRC working papers series on labour, education and technology 2020,06), Sevilla, 32 S.

Abstract

"This paper explores the impact of robot adoption on European regional labour markets between 1995 and 2015. Specifically, we look at the effect of the usage of industrial robots on jobs and employment structures across European regions. We regress the outcome of interest on the change in the exposure to robotisation in each regional labour market, based on the initial distribution of employment by industry across regions. Our estimates suggest that the effect of robots on employment tends to be mostly small and negative during the period 1995-2005 and positive during the period 2005-2015 for the overwhelming majority of model specifications and assumptions. Regarding the effects on employment structures, we find some evidence of a mildly polarising effect in the first period, but this finding depends to some extent on the model specifications. In sum, this paper shows that the impact of robots on European labour markets in the last couple of decades has been small and ambiguous. The strength and even the sign of this effect are sensitive to the specifications, as well as to the countries and periods analysed." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Autor, David, Claudia Goldin & Lawrence F. Katz (2020): Extending the Race between Education and Technology. (NBER working paper 26705), Cambridge, Mass., 20 S. DOI:10.3386/w26705

Abstract

"The race between education and technology provides a canonical framework that does an excellent job of explaining U.S. wage structure changes across the twentieth century. The framework involves secular increases in the demand for more-educated workers from skill-biased technological change, combined with variations in the supply of skills from changes in educational access. We expand the analysis backwards and forwards. The framework helps explain rising skill differentials in the nineteenth and twenty-first centuries, but needs to be augmented to illuminate the recent convexification of education returns and implied slowdown in the growth of the relative demand for college workers. Increased educational wage differentials explain 75 percent of the rise of U.S. wage inequality from 1980 to 2000 as compared to 38 percent for 2000 to 2017." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Belloc, Filippo, Gabriel Burdín & Fabio Landini (2020): Robots and Worker Voice: An Empirical Exploration. (IZA discussion paper 13799), 36 S.

Abstract

"The interplay between labour institutions and the adoption of automation technologies remains poorly understood. Specifically, there is little evidence on how the nature of industrial relations shapes technological choices at the workplace level. Using a large sample of more than 20000 European establishments located in 28 countries, this paper documents conditional correlations between the presence of employee representation (ER) and the use of automation technologies. We find that ER is positively associated with robot usage. The presence of ER also correlates with the utilization of software-based artificial intelligence tools for data analytics. We extensively dig into the mechanisms through which ER may foster the use of robots by exploiting rich information on the de facto role played by ER bodies in relation to well-defined decision areas of management. Greater automation in establishments with ER does not seem to result from more adversarial employment relationships (as measured by past strike activity) or constraints on labour flexibility imposed by the interference of employee representatives with dismissal procedures. Interestingly, the positive effect of ER on robot usage is driven by workplaces operating in relatively centralized wage-setting environments, where one would expected a more limited influence of ER on wages. While our findings are exploratory and do not have a causal interpretation, they are suggestive that ER influences certain workplace practices, such as skill development, job redesign and working time management, that may be complementary to new automation technologies." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Dottori, Davide (2020): Robots and employment: evidence from Italy. (Questioni di economia e finanza (Occasional papers) / Banca d'Italia 572), Rom, 59 S.

Abstract

"Increased robot diffusion has raised concerns for its possible negative impact on employment. Following an empirical approach in line with those applied to the US and Germany with contrasting results, this paper provides evidence about the effect of robots on employment outcomes in Italy (second European economy for robot stock) from the early 1990s up to 2016, both at the local labour market (LLM) level and at the worker level. In order to purge from demand and other confounding shocks, the identification relies on an instrumental variables strategy based on robots' sectoral growth in other European countries. No harmful impact on total employment emerges from the LLM analysis; the estimated effect is negative when limited to manufacturing employment, but its statistical significance is weak or absent once concurrent trends relating to trade and ICT are controlled for. Results at the worker level show that incumbent workers in manufacturing were not damaged on average, with an overall positive (though not large) employment effect, driven by longer working relationships with the original firm; conditional on them remaining at the original firm, the impact is also positive on wages. On the other hand, robot diffusion turns out to have contributed to reshaping the sectoral distribution of the new labour force inflows towards less robot intensive industries." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Dunn, Michael (2020): Making gigs work: digital platforms, job quality and worker motivations. In: New Technology, Work and Employment, Jg. 35, H. 2, S. 232-249. DOI:10.1111/ntwe.12167

Abstract

"Technology has driven new organisations of work and employment relationships, rendering changes that would have been unimaginable just a decade ago. The rise of digital platforms has not only enabled new forms of work activity but also transformed the way workers find new opportunities. This development, referred to as gig work, is distinct from traditional employment in that it is mediated through online platforms. While we can somewhat objectively designate traditional job characteristics as “good” or “bad”, designating gig work itself as “good” or “bad” overlooks the fact that workers are inclined to evaluate the quality of their jobs according to their own individual needs, priorities, backgrounds and other circumstances - even if those jobs are objectively the same. Unlike previous scholarship on gig work, which has viewed job quality largely from a platform-focused perspective, this article takes a worker-centric approach and provides a typology of gig workers. The typology demarcates how gig work is used and indicates key attributes that differentiate how workers approach such jobs. Moreover, the typology reveals heterogeneity in gig workers? motivations, characteristics and intentions. Consequently, platforms with “bad” job quality characteristics can still offer work that some workers will see as “good” and vice versa." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Fernández-Macías, Enrique, David Klenert & José-Ignacio Antón (2020): Not so disruptive yet? Characteristics, distribution and determinants of robots in Europe. (JRC working papers series on labour, education and technology 2020,03), Sevilla, 42 S.

Abstract

"This paper analyses data on industrial robots in European manufacturing sectors, focusing on their applications and characteristics, their distribution over countries and sectors and the main factors that are correlated with robot adoption such as wage levels and robot prices. We argue that, contrary to popular belief, the types of robots widely used in manufacturing today do not imply a discontinuity in terms of automation and labour replacement possibilities. Instead, current robot technology is better understood as the most recent iteration of industrial automation technologies that have existed for a very long time. In fact, these automation technologies arguably had their biggest employment impact generations ago, partially explaining changes in employment structures in agricultural and manufacturing sectors that go back to the Industrial Revolution. Thus, the potential employment effects of current robot technology are a priori limited." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Ghodsi, Mahdi, Oliver Reiter, Robert Stehrer & Roman Stöllinger (2020): Robotisation, Employment and Industrial Growth Intertwined Across Global Value Chains. (WIIW working paper 177), Wien, 33 S.

Abstract

"The global economy is currently experiencing a new wave of technological change involving new technologies, especially in the realm of artificial intelligence and robotics, but not limited to it. One key concern in this context is the consequences of these new technologies on the labour market. This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the direct and indirect effects of the rise of industrial robots and productivity via international value chains on various industrial indicators, including employment and real value added. The paper thereby adds to the existing empirical work on the relationship between technological change, employment and industrial growth by adding data on industrial robots while controlling for other technological advancements measured by total factor productivity (TFP). The results indicate that the overall impact of the installation of new robots did not statistically affect the growth of industrial employment during the period 2000–2014 significantly, while the overall impact on the real value added growth of industries in the world was positive and significant. The methodology also allows for a differentiation between the impact of robots across various industries and countries based on two different perspectives of source and destination industries across global value chains. Disclaimer This is a background paper for the UNIDO Industrial Development Report 2020. Industrializing in the digital age." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Graetz, Georg (2020): Labor Demand in the Past, Present, and Future. (IZA discussion paper 13142), Bonn, 29 S.

Abstract

"Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, technological change has led to the automation of existing tasks and the creation of new ones, as well as the reallocation of labor across occupations and industries. These processes have been costly to individual workers, but labor demand has remained strong, and real wages have steadily increased in line with productivity growth. I provide evidence suggesting, however, that in recent decades automation has outpaced the creation of new tasks and thus the demand for labor has declined. There is strong disagreement about the future of labor demand, and predictions about technological breakthroughs have a poor track record. Given the importance of overall labor demand for workers' standard of living as well as their ability to adjust to a changing labor market, obtaining accurate forecasts should be a priority for policy makers." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Graetz, Georg (2020): Technological change and the Swedish labor market. (Working papers / Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy 2020,19), Bonn, 69 S.

Abstract

"This report takes stock of recent research into the effects of technology on the labor market; assesses to what extent the Swedish labor market has been affected by technological change in the past three decades, in particular with respect to the themes highlighted by the research; and draws lessons for the future. The main conclusion is that so far, the Swedish labor market has adopted well to technological change, as it exhibits stable employment rates and steady wage growth across the distribution. Furthermore, there are no clear signs that this situation should change in the coming decades." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Grigoli, Francesco, Zsóka Kóczán & Petia Topalova (2020): Automation and labor force participation in advanced economies: Macro and micro evidence. In: European Economic Review, Jg. 126. DOI:10.1016/j.euroecorev.2020.103443

Abstract

"Technological advances raise productivity and growth, but are also likely to reshape labor markets. We examine the impact of automation on aggregate labor force participation rates and individuals' attachment to the workforce in advanced economies. Cross-country analysis, which leverages the variation in the routinizability of occupations and occupational composition, points to significant negative effects of automation on the participation rates of prime-age men and women. Individual-level analysis confirms that workers previously employed in routinizable occupations are more likely to drop out of the labor force. Encouragingly, higher spending on active labor market programs and education are, however, associated with smaller negative effects of technological change on participation." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2020 Elsevier) ((en))

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Hepp, Rolf, David Kergel & Robert Riesinger (Hrsg.) (2020): Precarized society. Social Transformation of the welfare state. (Prekarisierung und soziale Entkopplung - transdisziplinäre Studien), Wiesbaden: Springer VS, 274 S.

Abstract

"This book provides international and transdisciplinary perspectives on Hyperprecarity and Social Structural Transformations in European Societies, USA and Russia enforced through other special transformation processes such as digitalisation, migration and demographic change. It has been observed that precarity and social insecurity do not refer any longer only to certain groups of the society such as unemployed people or to those ones who are ‘traditionally’ more in need of social benefit etc. but it accompanies and affects greater parts of the society, particularly those sections of the middleclass who conceive their social identity merely via their work ethics. Consequentially new forms of social exclusion are being producing taxing the traditional social cohesion in European societies due to the demand of new forms of flexibility and mobility from the working people. This process can be termed with the notion 'Hyperprecarisation'. This book contains contributions from scientists all over Europe, Russia and the USA, who are members of the SUPI network “Social Uncertainty, Prequarity, Inequality”." (Publisher information, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Kim, Bae-Geun (2020): Sectoral shifts and comovements in employment. In: Economics Letters, Jg. 192. DOI:10.1016/j.econlet.2020.109208

Abstract

"Sectoral shifts in employment from manufacturing to services are viewed as a structural transformation which occurs over a long period of time. Economists point out that a rapid technological advance in the manufacturing sector relative to that in the service sector is the underlying cause of this phenomenon. However, few have associated this with business cycle analyses. This paper finds that a relatively faster technological advance in the manufacturing sector (named manufacturing-specific technology shock) generates sectoral comovements in employment in the short run while it leads to sectoral shifts in employment in the long run. The behavior of investment is the key to this finding." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2020 Elsevier) ((en))

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Klenert, David, Enrique Fernández-Macías & José-Ignacio Antón (2020): Do robots really destroy jobs? Evidence from Europe. (JRC working papers series on labour, education and technology 2020,01), Sevilla, 48 S.

Abstract

"While citizen opinion polls reveal that Europeans are concerned about the labour market consequences of technological progress, the understanding of the actual significance of this relationship is still imperfect. This paper assesses the impact of robot adoption on employment in Europe. Combining industry-level data on employment by skill-type with data on robot adoption and using different sets of fixed-effects techniques, we find that robot use is linked to an increase in aggregate employment. Contrary to some previous studies, we do not find evidence of robots reducing the share of low-skill workers across Europe. Since the overwhelming majority of industrial robots is used in manufacturing, our findings should not be interpreted outside of the manufacturing context. However, the results still hold when including non-manufacturing sectors and they are robust across a wide range of assumptions and econometric specifications." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Larsson, Anthony & Robin Teigland (Hrsg.) (2020): The Digital Transformation of Labor. Automation, the Gig Economy and Welfare. (Routledge studies in labour economics), Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY: Routledge, XXII, 349 S. DOI:10.4324/9780429317866

Abstract

"Through a series of studies, the overarching aim of this book is to investigate if and how the digitalization/digital transformation process causes (or may cause) the autonomy of various labor functions, and its impact in creating (or stymieing) various job opportunities on the labor market. This book also seeks to illuminate what actors/groups are mostly at risk by it. This book takes its point of departure from a 2016 OECD report that contends that the impact digitalization has on the future of labor is ambiguous, as on the one hand it is suggested that technological change is labor-saving, but on the other hand, it is suggested that digital technologies have not created new jobs on a scale that it replaces old jobs." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Panteli, Niki, Andriana Rapti & Dora Scholarios (2020): "If He Just Knew Who We Were": Microworkers’ Emerging Bonds of Attachment in a Fragmented Employment Relationship. In: Work, Employment and Society, Jg. 34, H. 3, S. 476-494. DOI:10.1177/0950017019897872

Abstract

"Using the lens of attachment, we explore microworkers' views of their employment relationship. Microwork comprises short-term, task-focused exchanges with large numbers of end-users (requesters), implying transitory and transactional relationships. Other key parties, however, include the platform which digitally meditates worker-requester relationships and the online microworker community. We explore the nature of attachment with these parties and the implications for microworkers' employment experiences. Using data from a workers' campaign directed at Amazon Mechanical Turk and CEO Jeff Bezos, we demonstrate multiple, dynamic bonds - primarily acquiescence and instrumental bonds - towards requesters and the platform, and identification with the online community. Microworkers also expressed dedication towards the platform. We consider how attachment buffers the exploitative employment relationship and how community bonds mobilise collective worker voice." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Pardini, Riccardo, Nora Meuli & Carlo Knöpfel (2020): #up to date. Arbeitsmarktfähigkeit von ICT-Beschäftigten in der Schweiz. Zürich: Seismo Verlag, 246 S.

Abstract

"Der Arbeitsmarkt befindet sich im Wandel. Arbeitsaufgaben und traditionelle Berufsbilder fallen weg und werden durch neue Arbeitsinhalte und andere Qualifikationsanforderungen ersetzt. Von diesem Transformationsprozess ist die ICT-Branche stark betroffen. Ein zentrales Mittel, um mit den sich ständig ändernden Anforderungen umzugehen, ist die berufsorientierte Weiterbildung. Die Studie im Auftrag der Gewerkschaft «Medien und Kommunikation syndicom» zeigt, dass der Besuch verschiedener Weiterbildungsaktivitäten für die ICT-Beschäftigten ein wichtiger Bestandteil ist, um die eigene Arbeitsmarktfähigkeit zu erhalten und zu fördern. Allerdings ist der Zugang zu Weiterbildungsangeboten ungleich verteilt. Die Einschätzungen von 500 ICT-Beschäftigten machen deutlich, dass eine Regelung zu Weiterbildungsmöglichkeiten in den Arbeitsverträgen sich positiv auswirkt, um den Anforderungen dieser Branche gerecht zu werden und mit den Veränderungen des Berufsfeldes Schritt zu halten." (Verlagsinformation, IAB-Doku)

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Peruffo, Eleonora, Ricardo Rodriguez Contreras, Irene Mandl & Martina Bisello (2020): Game-changing technologies: Transforming production and employment in Europe. Digital age. (Eurofound research report / European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions), Dublin, IV, 46 S. DOI:10.2806/054475

Abstract

"Innovation and technological advancement are natural features of developed economies, and they are necessary to maintain and improve sustainable competitiveness in an era of globalisation. However, while most innovation tends to be incremental, some has a disruptive effect on production and service provision, the labour market and social dialogue. This report discusses a selection of eight so-called ‘game-changing technologies’ (advanced robotics, additive manufacturing, the Internet of Things, electric vehicles, autonomous vehicles, industrial biotechnologies, blockchain and virtual and augmented reality). Each of these has the potential to substantially change business activities, work and employment in Europe. Looking at both the manufacturing and services sectors, this report gives an indication of how these technologies might be adopted and how they are expected to affect the labour market." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Prettner, Klaus & Holger Strulik (2020): Innovation, automation, and inequality: Policy challenges in the race against the machine. In: Journal of monetary economics, Jg. 116, S. 249-265. DOI:10.1016/j.jmoneco.2019.10.012

Abstract

"The effects of automation on economic growth, education, and inequality are analyzed using an R&D-driven growth model with endogenous education in which high-skilled workers are complements to machines and low-skilled workers are substitutes for machines. The model predicts that automation leads to an increasing share of college graduates, increasing income and wealth inequality, and a declining labor share. We show that standard policy suggestions for the age of automation can trigger unintended side effects on inequality, growth, and welfare, irrespective of whether they are financed by progressive wage taxation or by a robot tax." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2020 Elsevier) ((en))

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Scholl, Keller & Robin Hanson (2020): Testing the automation revolution hypothesis. In: Economics Letters, Jg. 193. DOI:10.1016/j.econlet.2020.109287

Abstract

"Wages and employment predict automation in 832 U.S. jobs, 1999 to 2019, but add little to top 25 O*NET job features, whose best predictive model did not change over this period. Automation changes predict changes in neither wages nor employment." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2020 Elsevier) ((en))

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Schwabe, Henrik & Fulvio Castellacci (2020): Automation, workers' skills and job satisfaction. In: PLoS ONE, Jg. 15, H. 11. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0242929

Abstract

"When industrial robots are adopted by firms in a local labor market, some workers are displaced and become unemployed. Other workers that are not directly affected by automation may however fear that these new technologies might replace their working tasks in the future. This fear of a possible future replacement is important because it negatively affects workers' job satisfaction at present. This paper studies the extent to which automation affects workers' job satisfaction, and whether this effect differs for high- versus low-skilled workers. The empirical analysis uses microdata for several thousand workers in Norway from the Working Life Barometer survey for the period 2016–2019, combined with information on the introduction of industrial robots in Norway from the International Federation of Robotics. Our identification strategy exploits variation in the pace of introduction of industrial robots in Norwegian regions and industries since 2007 to instrument workers' fear of replacement. The results indicate that automation in industrial firms in recent years have induced 40% of the workers that are currently in employment to fear that their work might be replaced by a smart machine in the future. Such fear of future replacement does negatively affect workers' job satisfaction at present. This negative effect is driven by low-skilled workers, which are those carrying out routine-based tasks, and who are therefore more exposed to the risks of automation." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Stanton, Christopher T. & Catherine Thomas (2020): The Gig Economy Beyond Local Services and Transportation. In: CESifo forum, Jg. 21, H. 3, S. 21-26.

Abstract

"The gig economy characterizes a wide variety of shortterm freelance work, typically intermediated via online platforms that facilitate matching between buyers and providers. The widespread growth of ride-sharing platforms such as Uber and Lyft has led many to equate gig-economy work with tasks carried out face to face after matching on a platform. However, many gigs or tasks can be both contracted and performed remotely, particularly when the output can be delivered electronically. Platforms that enable this type of work are referred to as online labor markets." (Text excerpt, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Umbach, Susanne, Erik Haberzeth, Hanna Böving & Elise Glaß (2020): Kompetenzverschiebungen im Digitalisierungsprozess. Veränderungen für Arbeit und Weiterbildung aus Sicht der Beschäftigten. (Erwachsenenbildung und lebensbegleitendes Lernen - Forschung & Praxis 38), Bielefeld: wbv Publikation, 212 S. DOI:10.3278/6004593w

Abstract

"Thema der Studie ist der Wandel von Tätigkeiten an betrieblichen Arbeitsplätzen durch die Digitalisierung, für die in der betrieblichen Weiterbildung Unterstützungs- und Gestaltungsansätze entwickelt werden müssen. Anhand von sechs Betriebsfallstudien aus Logistik und stationärem Einzelhandel untersucht das Autorenteam zwei wesentliche Aspekte: die Veränderung von Tätigkeiten auf der ausführenden Ebene und die damit verbundenen Kompetenzverschiebungen. In dem subjektbezogenen Zugang zum Forschungsfeld sind die Beschäftigten Expertinnen und Experten ihrer Arbeit, um zentrale Fragen des digitalisierten Arbeitsalltags zu beantworten: Was heißt Digitalisierung für Arbeitsmittel und -organisation auf betrieblicher Ebene? Wie verändern sich Tätigkeiten? Welche Kompetenzverschiebungen im Hinblick auf menschliche Wissens- und Handlungspotenziale ergeben sich? Wie wird betriebliche Weiterbildung gestaltet? Im Ergebnis liefern die Autorinnen und der Autor ein erweitertes Kompetenzprofil, das die Besonderheiten der Digitalisierung aufnimmt. Es ist gleichzeitig Grundlage für eine personalorientierte und partizipative Weiterbildungspraxis." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)

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Vargas Llave, Oscar & Tina Weber (2020): Regulations to address work-life balance in digital flexible working arrangements. Industrial relations. (Eurofound research report / European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions), Dublin, 38 S. DOI:10.2806/03528

Abstract

"Developments in information and communication technology (ICT) have been among the key drivers of change in working life over the past two decades. Specifically, telework and ICT-based mobile work (TICTM) exemplifies how digital technology has led to more flexible workplace and working time practices. However, the ability to work anywhere and at any time can lead to greater work intensification, competition and work-on-demand. If this is not explicitly addressed, it threatens to override the advantages that ICT-based flexible working brings to work–life balance. As part of Eurofound’s extensive research into the impact of TICTM on working conditions and on work–life balance, this report aims to provide policymakers with ways to address new challenges in the world of work and to serve as a reference for future initiatives in relation to digitalisation, working time and work–life balance." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Veen, Alex, Tom Baratt & Caleb Goods (2020): Platform-capital's 'App-etite' for control: A labour process analysis of food-delivery work in Australia. In: Work, employment and society, Jg. 34, H. 3, S. 388-406. DOI:10.1177/0950017019836911

Abstract

"This qualitative case study adopts a labour process analysis to unpack the distinctive features of capital's control regimes in the food-delivery segment of the Australian platform-economy and assesses labour agency in response to these. Drawing upon worker experiences with the Deliveroo and UberEATS platforms, it is shown how the labour process controls are multi-facetted and more than algorithmic management, with three distinct features standing out: the panoptic disposition of the technological infrastructure, the use of information asymmetries to constrain worker choice, and the obfuscated nature of their performance management systems. Combined with the workers' precarious labour market positions and the Australian political-economic context, only limited, mainly individual, expressions of agency were found." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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de Vries, Gaaitzen J., Elisabetta Gentile, Sébastien Miroudot & Konstantin M. Wacker (2020): The rise of robots and the fall of routine jobs. In: Labour Economics, Jg. 66. DOI:10.1016/j.labeco.2020.101885

Abstract

"This paper examines the impact of industrial robots on jobs. We combine data on robot adoption and occupations by industry in thirty-seven countries for the period from 2005 to 2015. We exploit differences across industries in technical feasibility – defined as the industry's share of tasks replaceable by robots – to identify the impact of robot usage on employment. The data allow us to differentiate effects by the routine-intensity of employment. We find that a rise in robot adoption relates significantly to a fall in the employment share of routine manual task-intensive jobs. This relation is observed in high-income countries, but not in emerging market and transition economies." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2020 Elsevier) ((en))

Abstract

"This report examines digitalisation’s effects on science, technology and innovation and the associated consequences for policy. In varied and far-reaching ways, digital technologies are changing how scientists work, collaborate and publish. While examining these developments, this book also assesses the effects of digitalisation on longstanding policy themes, from access to publicly funded research data, to the diffusion of technology and its absorption by firms. New and emerging topics are also explored. These include the roles of artificial intelligence and blockchain in science and production, using digital technology to draw on the collective intelligence of the scientific community, advances in the digitalisation of biotechnology, and possible "dark sides" of digitalisation." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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OECD (2020): OECD Digital Economy Outlook 2020. (OECD digital economy outlook 3), Paris, 315 S. DOI:10.1787/bb167041-en

Abstract

"The OECD Digital Economy Outlook 2020 examines trends and analyses emerging opportunities and challenges in the digital economy. It highlights how OECD countries and partner economies are taking advantage of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the Internet to meet their public policy objectives. Through comparative evidence, it informs policy makers of regulatory practices and policy options to help maximise the potential of the digital economy as a driver for innovation and inclusive growth. This third edition of the OECD Digital Economy Outlook provides a holistic overview of converging trends, policy developments and data on both the supply and demand sides of the digital economy. It illustrates how the digital transformation is affecting economies and societies. Finally, it provides a special focus on how the COVID-19 pandemic is amplifying opportunities and challenges from the digital transformation." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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World Economic Forum (2020): The future of jobs report 2020. (The future of jobs report 3), Cologny/Geneva, 162 S.

Abstract

"The COVID-19 pandemic-induced lockdowns and related global recession of 2020 have created a highly uncertain outlook for the labour market and accelerated the arrival of the future of work. The Future of Jobs Report 2020 aims to shed light on: 1) the pandemic-related disruptions thus far in 2020, contextualized within a longer history of economic cycles, and 2) the expected outlook for technology adoption, jobs and skills in the next five years. Despite the currently high degree of uncertainty, the report uses a unique combination of qualitative and quantitative intelligence to expand the knowledge base about the future of jobs and skills. It aggregates the views of business leaders—chief executives, chief strategy officers and chief human resources officers–on the frontlines of decision-making regarding human capital with the latest data from public and private sources to create a clearer picture of both the current situation and the future outlook for jobs and skills. The report also provides in-depth information for 15 industry sectors and 26 advanced and emerging countries." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Abstract

Report der Stiftung "New Direction", 2009 von Margret Thatcher als Think Tank europäischer Konservativer gegründet. Der Report enthält Beiträge u.a. zu den Themen Digitalisierung, Arbeitsmarkt, Digitalisierung, Roboter, Zukunft der Arbeit, Künstliche Intelligenz, Soziale Sicherung, Qualifikationsanforderungen, Plattformarbeit. (IAB)

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European Institute for Gender Equality (2020): Gender equality index 2020. Digitalisation and the future of work. (Gender equality index …), Vilnius, 178 S. DOI:10.2839/79077

Abstract

"The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic was a wake-up call for gender equality in Europe. It reminded us about everyday gender inequalities in our society that often go unnoticed – from the shortage of men working in the care sector to the reality of violence facing women in abusive relationships. While it will still take time to fully understand the consequences of COVID-19 for gender equality, it’s clear that it poses a serious threat to the fragile achievements made over the past decade. This year, the Index report focuses on the effects of digitalisation on the world of work and the consequences for gender equality. This topic is extremely relevant in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the ways in which the working lives of women and men have been affected by it. New types of jobs and innovative ways of working through online platforms were analysed to gain an understanding of who is doing these jobs and whether they help or hinder gender equality. With a detailed analysis for the EU and each Member State, the Index shows country-level achievements and areas for improvement. More than ever, policymakers need the data that the Index provides. We hope that our findings will help Europe’s leaders to design future solutions that are inclusive and promote gender equality in our post-COVID-19 society." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Abstract

"The new knowledge economy, centred on Information and Communication Technologies, together with AI / and robots, can free men and women from the mere execution of tasks and allow them to devote their energies to more satisfying and creative purposes. It can, however, also create mass unemployment or alienation of workers reduced to the role of subservient auxiliaries of a working process they can no longer control. Much depends on the philosophy that guides the new automated production processes: will it be a philosophy that aims solely at profit or one that values the participation of workers, care for the common good, and has a special concern for the poor and the marginalized?" (Text excerpt, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Abstract

"Digitale Technologien und Daten verändern unser Lebensumfeld. Menschen, Unternehmen und staatliche Stellen agieren, kommunizieren und operieren heute anders als in der Vergangenheit - und diese Veränderungen beschleunigen sich zusehends. Wie können wir das gewaltige Potenzial ausschöpfen, das digitale Technologien und Daten zur Steigerung von Wachstum und Lebensqualität in einer sich rasch wandelnden Welt bieten? Dieser Bericht soll Antworten auf diese Frage liefern. Er geht auf sieben Aspekte ein, bei denen die Regierungen - zusammen mit Bürgerinnen und Bürgern, Unternehmen und anderen betroffenen Akteuren - ansetzen können, um den digitalen Wandel zu gestalten und das Leben zu verbessern. In jedem dieser Bereiche zeigt der Bericht Chancen, Herausforderungen und Handlungsoptionen auf. Außerdem liefert er neue Erkenntnisse, Daten und Analysen sowie Empfehlungen für eine bessere Politik im digitalen Zeitalter." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)

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Acemoglu, Daron & Pascual Restrepo (2019): Automation and new tasks: How technology displaces and reinstates labor. In: The Journal of Economic Perspectives, Jg. 33, H. 2, S. 3-30. DOI:10.1257/jep.33.2.3

Abstract

"We present a framework for understanding the effects of automation and other types of technological changes on labor demand, and use it to interpret changes in US employment over the recent past. At the center of our framework is the allocation of tasks to capital and labor -- the task content of production. Automation, which enables capital to replace labor in tasks it was previously engaged in, shifts the task content of production against labor because of a displacement effect. As a result, automation always reduces the labor share in value added and may reduce labor demand even as it raises productivity. The effects of automation are counterbalanced by the creation of new tasks in which labor has a comparative advantage. The introduction of new tasks changes the task content of production in favor of labor because of a reinstatement effect, and always raises the labor share and labor demand. We show how the role of changes in the task content of production -- due to automation and new tasks -- can be inferred from industry-level data. Our empirical decomposition suggests that the slower growth of employment over the last three decades is accounted for by an acceleration in the displacement effect, especially in manufacturing, a weaker reinstatement effect, and slower growth of productivity than in previous decades." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))