Beschreibung

"Anxieties about technological change in the context of the labor market are a recurring historical phenomenon. Using customized survey data collected in 2019 in the US and Germany, prior to the recent wave of generative AI applications, we study how respondents perceive the impact of the digital (automation) technologies available at the time of the survey on the labor market. We document that a majority views digital technologies and automation as a major threat to overall employment and as a cause of rising inequality, while a quarter is concerned about their own labor market prospects. Providing scientific information on the likely labor market implications of digital technologies in a randomized experiment reduces these concerns. Yet, treatment responses depend on prior beliefs about the future of work, resulting in heterogeneous and opposing treatment effects on policy demand." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2026 Elsevier) ((en))