Technological Change and the Substitution of Labor

Technological Change and the Substitution of Labor

In recent years, there has been a revival of concerns that automation and digitization might result in a jobless future. The debate has been fueled by studies for the US and Europe arguing that a substantial share of jobs is at “risk of computerization”.  These studies assume that certain occupations can be automated. This might lead to an overestimation of automatibility, as even high-risk occupations still contain substantial shares of tasks that are hard to automate. This project serves two purposes. Firstly, we estimate the automatibility of jobs for 21 OECD countries based on a task-based approach. In contrast to other studies, we take into account the heterogeneity of workers’ tasks within occupations. Secondly, we critically reflect on the recent line of studies that generate figures on the “risk of computerization” and to provide a comprehensive discussion on possible adjustment processes of firms and workers to automation and digitalization.

Project members

Melanie Arntz

Melanie Arntz

Project Coordinator
Deputy

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Terry Gregory

Terry Gregory

Project Coordinator
Senior Researcher

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Ulrich Zierahn-Weilage

Ulrich Zierahn-Weilage

Project Coordinator
Research Associate

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