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Managing man and machine: Automation potential and labor investment efficiency

Author

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  • Mazumder, Sharif
  • Pugachev, Leonid

Abstract

We study how a firm's ability to automate affects its labor investment efficiency (LIE). Companies with greater automation potential (AP), measured by share of routine task labor, invest more efficiently. They exhibit both lower propensity to over- and under-invest, as well as lower intensity of over- and under-investment, conditional on its occurrence. Using the catastrophic 2011 Thai flooding as an exogenous shock to AP, we find evidence that the relationship between AP and LIE is likely causal. AP appears to spur (hamper) employment growth in good (bad) economic states. We are the first to show that AP leads firms toward more efficient labor investment.

Suggested Citation

  • Mazumder, Sharif & Pugachev, Leonid, 2025. "Managing man and machine: Automation potential and labor investment efficiency," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:glofin:v:65:y:2025:i:c:s1044028325000122
    DOI: 10.1016/j.gfj.2025.101085
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Automation; Labor investment; Labor technology substitution;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G31 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Capital Budgeting; Fixed Investment and Inventory Studies
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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