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Digital Adoption, Automation, and Labor Markets in Developing and Emerging Economies

Author

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  • Federico S. Mandelman
  • Alan Finkelstein Shapiro

Abstract

We document a strong negative link between self-employment and the rate of digital adoption by firms in developing and emerging economies. No link between digital adoption and the unemployment rate is found, however. To explain this evidence, we build a general equilibrium search-and-matching model with endogenous labor force participation, self-employment, endogenous firm entry, and information-and-communications technology adoption. The main finding is that changes in the cost of technology adoption per se cannot rationalize the evidence. Instead, changes in firms' barriers to entry directly linked to the cost of technology adoption are key to explain the data.

Suggested Citation

  • Federico S. Mandelman & Alan Finkelstein Shapiro, 2019. "Digital Adoption, Automation, and Labor Markets in Developing and Emerging Economies," FRB Atlanta Working Paper 2019-22, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedawp:87499
    DOI: 10.29338/wp2019-22
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Das, Mitali & Hilgenstock, Benjamin, 2022. "The exposure to routinization: Labor market implications for developed and developing economies," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 99-113.
    2. Shapiro Finkelstein, Alan & Metcalf, Gilbert E., 2021. "The Macroeconomic Effects of a Carbon Tax to Meet the U.S. Paris Agreement Target: The Role of Firm Creation and Technology Adoption," FEEM Working Papers 311095, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    3. SASAHARA Akira & MORI Hiroaki, 2021. "The Effects of Trade on the Gender Gaps: A Model-based Quantitative Investigation," Discussion papers 21076, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    automation; self-employment; digital adoption; Information-and-telecommunications-technology capital (ICT); labor search frictions; endogenous firm entry; developing and emerging economies; unemployment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • 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
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
    • O14 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology

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