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Robots and Employment: Evidence from Japan, 1978-2017

Author

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  • ADACHI Daisuke
  • KAWAGUCHI Daiji
  • SAITO Yukiko

Abstract

We study the impacts of industrial robots on employment in Japan, the country with the longest tradition of robot adoption. We employ a novel data set of robot shipments by destination industry and robot application (specified task) in quantity and unit values. These features allow us to use an identification strategy leveraging the heterogeneous application of robots across industries and heterogeneous price changes across applications. For example, the price drop of the welding robot relative to the assembling robot induced faster adoption of robots in the automobile industry that intensively uses welding processes than in the electric machine industry that intensively uses assembling processes. Our industrial-level and commuting zone-level analyses both indicate that the decline of robot prices increased the number of robots as well as employment, suggesting that robots and labor are gross complementary in the production process. We compare our estimates with those reported by existing studies and propose a mechanism that explains apparent differences between the results.

Suggested Citation

  • ADACHI Daisuke & KAWAGUCHI Daiji & SAITO Yukiko, 2020. "Robots and Employment: Evidence from Japan, 1978-2017," Discussion papers 20051, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    • Handle: RePEc:eti:dpaper:20051
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    Cited by:

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    2. 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.
    3. Venturini, Francesco, 2022. "Intelligent technologies and productivity spillovers: Evidence from the Fourth Industrial Revolution," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 220-243.
    4. Fujiwara, Ippei & Kimoto, Ryo & Shiratsuka, Shigenori & Shirota, Toyoichiro, 2021. "Measuring Robot Quality: Has Quality Improvement Slowed Down?," CEPR Discussion Papers 16556, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    5. Klump, Rainer & Jurkat, Anne & Schneider, Florian, 2021. "Tracking the rise of robots: A survey of the IFR database and its applications," MPRA Paper 110390, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Koyo Miyoshi, 2021. "The Decline in the Labor Share: Evidence from Japanese Manufacturers f Panel Data," Discussion papers ron340, Policy Research Institute, Ministry of Finance Japan.
    7. ARAI Kosuke & FUJIWARA Ippei & SHIROTA Toyoichiro, 2021. "Robot Penetration and Task Changes," Discussion papers 21093, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).

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