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The Impact of ICT and Robots on Labour Market Outcomes of Demographic Groups in Europe

Author

Listed:
  • Albinowski, Maciej

    (Institute for Structural Research (IBS))

  • Lewandowski, Piotr

    (Institute for Structural Research (IBS))

Abstract
We study the age- and gender-specific labour market effects of two key modern technologies, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and robots, in 14 European countries between 2010 and 2018. To identify the causal effects of technology adoption, we utilise the variation in technology adoption between industries and apply the instrumental variables strategy proposed by Acemoglu and Restrepo (2020). We find that the exposure to ICT and robots increased the shares of young and prime-aged women in employment and the wage bills of particular sectors, but reduced the shares of older women and prime-aged men. The adverse effects were particularly pronounced for older women in cognitive occupations, who had relatively low ICT-related skills; and for young men in routine manual occupations, who experienced substitutions by robots. Between 2010 and 2018, the growth in ICT capital played a much larger role than robot adoption in the changes in the labour market outcomes of demographic groups.

Suggested Citation

  • Albinowski, Maciej & Lewandowski, Piotr, 2022. "The Impact of ICT and Robots on Labour Market Outcomes of Demographic Groups in Europe," IZA Discussion Papers 15752, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15752
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    Cited by:

    1. Dario Guarascio & Alessandro Piccirillo & Jelena Reljic, 2024. "Will robot replace workers? Assessing the impact of robots on employment and wages with meta-analysis," LEM Papers Series 2024/03, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    2. Iztok Palčič & Jasna Prester, 2024. "Effect of Usage of Industrial Robots on Quality, Labor Productivity, Exports and Environment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-16, September.
    3. Eder, Andreas & Koller, Wolfgang & Mahlberg, Bernhard, 2024. "Industrial robots and employment change in manufacturing: A combination of index and production-theoretical decomposition analysis," MPRA Paper 121128, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Albinowski, Maciej & Lewandowski, Piotr, 2024. "The impact of ICT and robots on labour market outcomes of demographic groups in Europe," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    5. Guzel Salimova & Alisa Ableeva & Rasul Gusmanov & Gulnara Nigmatullina & Tatyana Lubova, 2024. "Multidimensional Assessment of the Labour Market in the Regions of the Russian Federation," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 67(2), pages 547-569, June.
    6. Piotr Lewandowski & Wojciech Szymczak, 2024. "Automation, Trade Unions and Involuntary Atypical Employment," IBS Working Papers 02/2024, Instytut Badan Strukturalnych.
    7. Jurkat, Anne & Klump, Rainer & Schneider, Florian, 2023. "Robots and Wages: A Meta-Analysis," EconStor Preprints 274156, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    8. Maciej Albinowski & Joanna Franaszek, 2024. "Minimum Hours Constraints: The Role of Organizational Culture," IBS Working Papers 01/2024, Instytut Badan Strukturalnych.
    9. Albinowski, Maciej, 2024. "Part-time employment opportunities and labour supply of older workers," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 28(C).
    10. Fabien Petit & Florencia Jaccoud & Tommaso Ciarli, 2023. "Heterogeneous Adjustments of Labor Markets to Automation Technologies," CESifo Working Paper Series 10237, CESifo.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    technological change; automation; ICT; robots; employment; wages; Europe;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand

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