IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/tefoso/v191y2023ics0040162523001336.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Automation technologies and their impact on employment: A review, synthesis and future research agenda

Author

Listed:
  • Filippi, Emilia
  • Bannò, Mariasole
  • Trento, Sandro

Abstract

This paper aims to review prior studies investigating how automation technologies affect employment. Our structured systematic review resulted in 102 publications recovered from Web of Science, Scopus and hand searching. The literature investigating how automation technologies affect employment is extremely complex and detailed, given that the impact of automation is evaluated at different levels of analysis (i.e., global, international, continental, country, regional, labour market, industry, firm, occupational, worker, and work activities) by adopting alternative methods (i.e., estimating the probability of automation or the net impact of employment) and, for some levels of analysis, the impact of each specific type of automation technology is evaluated. Moreover, the results are often inconsistent and inconclusive since only few clear results emerge and the impact of automation technologies is unclear for many levels of analysis. Research gaps and future research agenda are identified and discussed based on previous evidence.

Suggested Citation

  • 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).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:tefoso:v:191:y:2023:i:c:s0040162523001336
    DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2023.122448
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162523001336
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.techfore.2023.122448?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Francesco Chiacchio & Georgios Petropoulos & David Pichler, 2018. "The impact of industrial robots on EU employment and wages- A local labour market approach," Working Papers 25186, Bruegel.
    2. David Autor & Anna Salomons, 2018. "Is Automation Labor-Displacing? Productivity Growth, Employment, and the Labor Share," NBER Working Papers 24871, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Pajarinen, Mika & Rouvinen, Petri & Ekeland, Anders, 2015. "Computerization Threatens One-Third of Finnish and Norwegian Employment," ETLA Brief 34, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.
    4. Domini, Giacomo & Grazzi, Marco & Moschella, Daniele & Treibich, Tania, 2021. "Threats and opportunities in the digital era: Automation spikes and employment dynamics," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(7).
    5. Daron Acemoglu & Claire Lelarge & Pascual Restrepo, 2020. "Competing with Robots: Firm-Level Evidence from France," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 110, pages 383-388, May.
    6. Sotiris Blanas & Gino Gancia & Sang Yoon (Tim) Lee, 2019. "Who is afraid of machines?," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 34(100), pages 627-690.
    7. Lyashok, Victor (Ляшок, Виктор) & Maleva, Tatiana (Малева, Татьяна) & Lopatina, Marina (Лопатина, Марина), 2020. "Impact of New Technologies on the Labor Market: Past Lessons and New Challenges [Влияние Новых Технологий На Рынок Труда: Прошлые Уроки И Новые Вызовы]," Ekonomicheskaya Politika / Economic Policy, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, vol. 4, pages 62-87, August.
    8. Durán Sánchez, Amador & Del Río Rama, María de la Cruz & Álvarez García, José, 2017. "BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF PUBLICATIONS ON WINE TOURISM IN THE DATABASES Scopus and WoS," European Research on Management and Business Economics (ERMBE), Academia Europea de Dirección y Economía de la Empresa (AEDEM), vol. 23(1), pages 8-15.
    9. David Autor & Anna Salomons, 2018. "Is Automation Labor Share–Displacing? Productivity Growth, Employment, and the Labor Share," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 49(1 (Spring), pages 1-87.
    10. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/170cd4sul89ddpnfuomvfm0jc0 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Lene Kromann & Nikolaj Malchow-Møller & Jan Rose Skaksen & Anders Sørensen, 2020. "Automation and productivity—a cross-country, cross-industry comparison [Computing inequality: have computers changed the labor market?]," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 29(2), pages 265-287.
    12. Matteo Sostero, 2020. "Automation and Robots in Services: Review of Data and Taxonomy," JRC Working Papers on Labour, Education and Technology 2020-14, Joint Research Centre.
    13. Davide Dottori, 2021. "Robots and employment: evidence from Italy," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 38(2), pages 739-795, July.
    14. Daron Acemoglu & David Autor & Jonathon Hazell & Pascual Restrepo, 2020. "AI and Jobs: Evidence from Online Vacancies," NBER Working Papers 28257, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Yixiao Zhou, 2021. "The Economics of Artificial Intelligence," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 97(319), pages 577-580, December.
    16. Focacci, Chiara Natalie, 2021. "Technological unemployment, robotisation, and green deal: A story of unstable spillovers in China and South Korea (2008–2018)," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    17. Xie, Mengmeng & Ding, Lin & Xia, Yan & Guo, Jianfeng & Pan, Jiaofeng & Wang, Huijuan, 2021. "Does artificial intelligence affect the pattern of skill demand? Evidence from Chinese manufacturing firms," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 295-309.
    18. Alessandra Bonfiglioli & Rosario Crinò & Harald Fadinger & Gino Gancia, 2020. "Robot Imports and Firm-Level Outcomes," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2020_243, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany.
    19. Michael Koch & Ilya Manuylov & Marcel Smolka, 2021. "Robots and Firms," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 131(638), pages 2553-2584.
    20. Aubert-Tarby, Clémence & Escobar, Octavio R. & Rayna, Thierry, 2018. "The impact of technological change on employment: The case of press digitisation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 36-45.
    21. Chang, Jae-Hee. & Huynh, Phu., 2016. "ASEAN in transformation the future of jobs at risk of automation," ILO Working Papers 994906463402676, International Labour Organization.
    22. Daron Acemoglu & Pascual Restrepo, 2020. "Robots and Jobs: Evidence from US Labor Markets," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 128(6), pages 2188-2244.
    23. Pouliakas, Konstantinos, 2018. "Determinants of Automation Risk in the EU Labour Market: A Skills-Needs Approach," IZA Discussion Papers 11829, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    24. Dengler, Katharina & Matthes, Britta, 2018. "The impacts of digital transformation on the labour market: Substitution potentials of occupations in Germany," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 304-316.
    25. 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.
    26. Philippe Aghion & Céline Antonin & Simon Bunel & Xavier Jaravel, 2020. "What Are the Labor and Product Market Effects of Automation? New Evidence from France," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-03403062, HAL.
    27. Ni, Bin & Obashi, Ayako, 2021. "Robotics technology and firm-level employment adjustment in Japan," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    28. Tang, Chengjian & Huang, Keqi & Liu, Qiren, 2021. "Robots and skill-biased development in employment structure: Evidence from China," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    29. Foster-McGregor, Neil & Nomaler, Önder & Verspagen, Bart, 2021. "Job Automation Risk, Economic Structure and Trade: a European Perspective," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(7).
    30. José-Ignacio Antón & David Klenert & Enrique Fernández-Macías & Maria Cesira Urzì Brancati & Georgios Alaveras, 2022. "The labour market impact of robotisation in Europe," European Journal of Industrial Relations, , vol. 28(3), pages 317-339, September.
    31. Nuno Boavida & Marta Candeias, 2021. "Recent Automation Trends in Portugal: Implications on Industrial Productivity and Employment in Automotive Sector," Societies, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-16, August.
    32. David Moher & Alessandro Liberati & Jennifer Tetzlaff & Douglas G Altman & The PRISMA Group, 2009. "Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: The PRISMA Statement," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(7), pages 1-6, July.
    33. (Maggie) Fu, Xiaoqing & Bao, Qun & Xie, Hongjun & Fu, Xiaolan, 2021. "Diffusion of industrial robotics and inclusive growth: Labour market evidence from cross country data," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 670-684.
    34. Carbonero, Francesco. & Ernst, Ekkehard & Weber, Enzo., 2018. "Robots worldwide the impact of automation on employment and trade," ILO Working Papers 995008793402676, International Labour Organization.
    35. Saïd Echchakoui, 2020. "Why and how to merge Scopus and Web of Science during bibliometric analysis: the case of sales force literature from 1912 to 2019," Journal of Marketing Analytics, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 8(3), pages 165-184, September.
    36. Balsmeier, Benjamin & Woerter, Martin, 2019. "Is this time different? How digitalization influences job creation and destruction," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(8), pages 1-1.
    37. Ben Vermeulen & Jan Kesselhut & Andreas Pyka & Pier Paolo Saviotti, 2018. "The Impact of Automation on Employment: Just the Usual Structural Change?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-27, May.
    38. Junwen Zhu & Weishu Liu, 2020. "A tale of two databases: the use of Web of Science and Scopus in academic papers," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 123(1), pages 321-335, April.
    39. de Vries, Gaaitzen J. & Gentile, Elisabetta & Miroudot, Sébastien & Wacker, Konstantin M., 2020. "The rise of robots and the fall of routine jobs," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    40. David Klenert & Enrique Fernández-Macías & José-Ignacio Antón, 2023. "Do robots really destroy jobs? Evidence from Europe," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 44(1), pages 280-316, February.
    41. David, Benjamin, 2017. "Computer technology and probable job destructions in Japan: An evaluation," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 77-87.
    42. Sequeira, Tiago Neves & Garrido, Susana & Santos, Marcelo, 2021. "Robots are not always bad for employment and wages," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 108-119.
    43. Melanie Arntz & Terry Gregory & Ulrich Zierahn, 2016. "The Risk of Automation for Jobs in OECD Countries: A Comparative Analysis," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 189, OECD Publishing.
    44. Yingying Lu & Yixiao Zhou, 2021. "A review on the economics of artificial intelligence," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(4), pages 1045-1072, September.
    45. Faber, Marius, 2020. "Robots and reshoring: Evidence from Mexican labor markets," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    46. Frey, Carl Benedikt & Osborne, Michael A., 2017. "The future of employment: How susceptible are jobs to computerisation?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 254-280.
    47. Martin Krzywdzinski, 2021. "Automation, digitalization, and changes in occupational structures in the automobile industry in Germany, Japan, and the United States: a brief history from the early 1990s until 2018 [Managing fle," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 30(3), pages 499-535.
    48. Serenella Caravella & Mirko Menghini, 2018. "Race against the Machine. The effects of the fourth industrial revolution on the professions and on the labor market," L'industria, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 1, pages 43-68.
    49. Pellegrino, Gabriele & Piva, Mariacristina & Vivarelli, Marco, 2017. "Are Robots Stealing Our Jobs?," IZA Discussion Papers 10540, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    50. Benjamin David, 2017. "Computer technology and probable job destructions in Japan: An evaluation," Post-Print hal-01549790, HAL.
    51. Ballestar, María Teresa & Díaz-Chao, Ángel & Sainz, Jorge & Torrent-Sellens, Joan, 2020. "Knowledge, robots and productivity in SMEs: Explaining the second digital wave," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 119-131.
    52. S. Zemtsov., 2017. "Robots and potential technological unemployment in the Russian regions: Review and preliminary results," VOPROSY ECONOMIKI, N.P. Redaktsiya zhurnala "Voprosy Economiki", vol. 7.
    53. Daniel B. le Roux, 2018. "Automation and employment: The case of South Africa," African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(4), pages 507-517, June.
    54. Adamczyk, Willian Boschetti & Monasterio, Leonardo & Fochezatto, Adelar, 2021. "Automation in the future of public sector employment: the case of Brazilian Federal Government," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    55. Camiña, Ester & Díaz-Chao, Ángel & Torrent-Sellens, Joan, 2020. "Automation technologies: Long-term effects for Spanish industrial firms," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    56. Jung, Jin Hwa & Lim, Dong-Geon, 2020. "Industrial robots, employment growth, and labor cost: A simultaneous equation analysis," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    57. Mutascu, Mihai, 2021. "Artificial intelligence and unemployment: New insights," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 653-667.
    58. Dekle, Robert, 2020. "Robots and industrial labor: Evidence from Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    59. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/3n1gbsj6rs80ipqv9d42nfd0ge is not listed on IDEAS
    60. Wolfgang Dauth & Sebastian Findeisen & Jens Suedekum & Nicole Woessner, 2018. "Adjusting to Robots: Worker-Level Evidence," Opportunity and Inclusive Growth Institute Working Papers 13, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
    61. Fabiano Compagnucci & Andrea Gentili & Enzo Valentini & Mauro Gallegati, 2019. "Robotization and labour dislocation in the manufacturing sectors of OECD countries: a panel VAR approach," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(57), pages 6127-6138, December.
    62. Pajarinen, Mika & Rouvinen, Petri, 2014. "Computerization Threatens One Third of Finnish Employment," ETLA Brief 22, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.
    63. Martin Carnoy, 1997. "The new information technology ‐ international diffusion and its impact on employment and skills," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 18(1/2), pages 119-159, February.
    64. George J. Borjas & Richard B. Freeman, 2019. "From Immigrants to Robots: The Changing Locus of Substitutes for Workers," NBER Working Papers 25438, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    65. repec:bin:bpeajo:v:49:y:2019:i:2018-01:p:1-87 is not listed on IDEAS
    66. S. Zemtsov, 2017. "Robots and potential technological unemployment in the Russian regions: Review and preliminary results," Voprosy Ekonomiki, NP Voprosy Ekonomiki, issue 7.
    67. Wajcman, Judy, 2017. "Automation: is it really different this time?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 69811, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    68. James Bessen & Maarten Goos & Anna Salomons & Wiljan van den Berge, 2020. "Firm-Level Automation: Evidence from the Netherlands," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 110, pages 389-393, May.
    69. Nancey Green Leigh & Benjamin Kraft & Heonyeong Lee, 2020. "Robots, skill demand and manufacturing in US regional labour markets," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 13(1), pages 77-97.
    70. Ljubica Nedelkoska & Glenda Quintini, 2018. "Automation, skills use and training," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 202, OECD Publishing.
    71. Katherine Stapleton & Michael Webb, 2020. "Automation, trade and multinational activity: Micro evidence from Spain," CSAE Working Paper Series 2020-16, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Filippi, Emilia & Bannò, Mariasole & Trento, Sandro, 2023. "Automation technologies and the risk of substitution of women: Can gender equality in the institutional context reduce the risk?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dario Guarascio & Alessandro Piccirillo & Jelena Reljic, 2024. "Will robot replace workers? Assessing the impact of robots on employment and wages with meta-analysis," LEM Papers Series 2024/03, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    2. Caselli, Mauro & Fracasso, Andrea & Scicchitano, Sergio & Traverso, Silvio & Tundis, Enrico, 2021. "Stop worrying and love the robot: An activity-based approach to assess the impact of robotization on employment dynamics," GLO Discussion Paper Series 802, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    3. Klump, Rainer & Jurkat, Anne & Schneider, Florian, 2021. "Tracking the rise of robots: A survey of the IFR database and its applications," MPRA Paper 107909, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Jasmine Mondolo, 2022. "The composite link between technological change and employment: A survey of the literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(4), pages 1027-1068, September.
    5. Davide Dottori, 2021. "Robots and employment: evidence from Italy," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 38(2), pages 739-795, July.
    6. Martin Labaj & Materj Vitalos, 2019. "Automation and labor demand in European countries: A task-based approach to wage bill decomposition," Department of Economic Policy Working Paper Series 021, Department of Economic Policy, Faculty of National Economy, University of Economics in Bratislava.
    7. Fierro, Luca Eduardo & Caiani, Alessandro & Russo, Alberto, 2022. "Automation, Job Polarisation, and Structural Change," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 499-535.
    8. Domini, Giacomo & Grazzi, Marco & Moschella, Daniele & Treibich, Tania, 2022. "For whom the bell tolls: The firm-level effects of automation on wage and gender inequality," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(7).
    9. Kerstin Hotte & Melline Somers & Angelos Theodorakopoulos, 2022. "Technology and jobs: A systematic literature review," Papers 2204.01296, arXiv.org.
    10. Jean-Philippe Deranty & Thomas Corbin, 2022. "Artificial Intelligence and work: a critical review of recent research from the social sciences," Papers 2204.00419, arXiv.org.
    11. M. Battisti & M. Del Gatto & A. F. Gravina & C. F. Parmeter, 2021. "Robots versus labor skills: a complementarity/substitutability analysis," Working Paper CRENoS 202104, Centre for North South Economic Research, University of Cagliari and Sassari, Sardinia.
    12. Antón, José-Ignacio & Fernández-Macías, Enrique & Winter-Ebmer, Rudolf, 2020. "Does Robotization Affect Job Quality? Evidence from European Regional Labour Markets," IZA Discussion Papers 13975, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Jurkat, Anne & Klump, Rainer & Schneider, Florian, 2023. "Robots and Wages: A Meta-Analysis," EconStor Preprints 274156, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    14. Filippi, Emilia & Bannò, Mariasole & Trento, Sandro, 2023. "Automation technologies and the risk of substitution of women: Can gender equality in the institutional context reduce the risk?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    15. Montobbio, Fabio & Staccioli, Jacopo & Virgillito, Maria Enrica & Vivarelli, Marco, 2022. "Robots and the origin of their labour-saving impact," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    16. Guendalina Anzolin, 2021. "Automation and its Employment Effects: A Literature Review of Automotive and Garment Sectors," JRC Working Papers on Labour, Education and Technology 2021-16, Joint Research Centre.
    17. Sergio De Nardis & Francesca Parente, 2022. "Technology and task changes in the major EU countries," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 40(2), pages 391-413, April.
    18. Laura Abrardi & Carlo Cambini & Laura Rondi, 2022. "Artificial intelligence, firms and consumer behavior: A survey," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(4), pages 969-991, September.
    19. Alguacil Marí, María Teresa & Lo Turco, Alessia & Martínez-Zarzoso, Inmaculada, 2020. "What is so special about robots and trade?," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 410, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
    20. Cao, Yuqiang & Hu, Yong & Liu, Qian & Lu, Meiting & Shan, Yaowen, 2023. "Job creation or disruption? Unraveling the effects of smart city construction on corporate employment in China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:tefoso:v:191:y:2023:i:c:s0040162523001336. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00401625 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.