[Research Seminar] IFLAME: “Automation and low-skill labor” D. POZZOLI – Copenhagen Business School

Speaker: Dario POZZOLI
Copenhagen Business School

Joint work with Katja MANN – Copenhagen Business School

Date and Location – Thursday March 23rd 2023 from 12:00 to 13:30
in Paris campus (PR13) and on Zoom

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ABSTRACT

The supply of low-skill labor can have a significant impact on firms’ adoption of robots. This paper tests this hypothesis by exploiting an increase in the supply of low-skill labor caused by exogenous immigration into Danish municipalities. Using the Danish employer-employee matched dataset from 1995 to 2019, we demonstrate in a shift-share regression that municipalities with a higher proportion of migrants have fewer imports of robots at the firm-level. We rationalize this finding through a simple model of robot adoption, in which robots and low-skill workers are substitutes. As many advanced economies are facing labor shortages, this paper provides valuable insights into the future of robotization.