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Stop worrying and love the robot: An activity-based approach to assess the impact of robotization on employment dynamics

Author

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  • Mauro Caselli
  • Andrea Fracasso
  • Sergio Scicchitano
  • Silvio Traverso
  • Enrico Tundis

Abstract

This work investigates the impact that the change in the exposure to robots had on the Italian local employment dynamics over the period 2011-2018. A novel empirical strategy focusing on a match between occupations’ activities and robots’ applications at a high level of disaggregation makes it possible to assess the impact of robotization on the shares of workers employed as robot operators and in occupations deemed exposed to robots. In a framework consistently centered on workers’ and robots’ activities, rather than on their industries of employment, the analysis reveals for the first time reinstatement e↵ects among robot operators and heterogeneous results among exposed occupations.

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  • Mauro Caselli & Andrea Fracasso & Sergio Scicchitano & Silvio Traverso & Enrico Tundis, 2021. "Stop worrying and love the robot: An activity-based approach to assess the impact of robotization on employment dynamics," DEM Working Papers 2021/06, Department of Economics and Management.
    • Handle: RePEc:trn:utwprg:2021/06
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    Cited by:

    1. Caselli, Mauro & Fracasso, Andrea & Traverso, Silvio, 2021. "Robots and risk of COVID-19 workplace contagion: Evidence from Italy," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    2. Ainaa, Carmen & Brunetti, Irene & Mussida, Chiara & Scicchitano, Sergio, 2021. "Who lost the most? Distributive effects of COVID-19 pandemic," GLO Discussion Paper Series 829, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    3. Mauro Caselli & Andrea Fracasso & Arianna Marcolin & Sergio Scicchitano, 2023. "The reassuring effect of firms' technological innovations on workers' job insecurity," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 45(4), pages 754-778, October.
    4. Silvia Vannutelli & Sergio Scicchitano & Marco Biagetti, 2022. "Routine-biased technological change and wage inequality: do workers’ perceptions matter?," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 12(3), pages 409-450, September.
    5. Filippi, Emilia & Bannò, Mariasole & Trento, Sandro, 2023. "Automation technologies and their impact on employment: A review, synthesis and future research agenda," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    6. Traverso, Silvio & Vatiero, Massimiliano & Zaninotto, Enrico, 2024. "Automation and flexible labor contracts: Firm-level evidence from Italy," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1425, Global Labor Organization (GLO).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Robots; Employment; Activities; Tasks; Robot applications;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • 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

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