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Robotisation, Employment and Industrial Growth Intertwined Across Global Value Chains

Author

Listed:
  • Mahdi Ghodsi

    (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw)

  • Oliver Reiter

    (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw)

  • Robert Stehrer

    (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw)

  • Roman Stöllinger

    (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw)

Abstract

The global economy is currently experiencing a new wave of technological change involving new technologies, especially in the realm of artificial intelligence and robotics, but not limited to it. One key concern in this context is the consequences of these new technologies on the labour market. This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the direct and indirect effects of the rise of industrial robots and productivity via international value chains on various industrial indicators, including employment and real value added. The paper thereby adds to the existing empirical work on the relationship between technological change, employment and industrial growth by adding data on industrial robots while controlling for other technological advancements measured by total factor productivity (TFP). The results indicate that the overall impact of the installation of new robots did not statistically affect the growth of industrial employment during the period 2000–2014 significantly, while the overall impact on the real value added growth of industries in the world was positive and significant. The methodology also allows for a differentiation between the impact of robots across various industries and countries based on two different perspectives of source and destination industries across global value chains. Disclaimer This is a background paper for the UNIDO Industrial Development Report 2020. Industrializing in the digital age.

Suggested Citation

  • Mahdi Ghodsi & Oliver Reiter & Robert Stehrer & Roman Stöllinger, 2020. "Robotisation, Employment and Industrial Growth Intertwined Across Global Value Chains," wiiw Working Papers 177, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    • Handle: RePEc:wii:wpaper:177
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    File URL: https://wiiw.ac.at/robotisation-employment-and-industrial-growth-intertwined-across-global-value-chains-dlp-5286.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Kariem Soliman, 2021. "Are Industrial Robots a new GPT? A Panel Study of Nine European Countries with Capital and Quality-adjusted Industrial Robots as Drivers of Labour Productivity Growth," EIIW Discussion paper disbei307, Universitätsbibliothek Wuppertal, University Library.
    2. 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).
    3. Stefan Jestl, 2022. "Industrial Robots, and Information and Communication Technology: The Employment Effects in EU Labour Markets," wiiw Working Papers 215, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    4. 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.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Robotisation; digitalisation; global value chains; total factor productivity; industrial growth; employment; value added;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D57 - Microeconomics - - General Equilibrium and Disequilibrium - - - Input-Output Tables and Analysis
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • L16 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Industrial Organization and Macroeconomics; Macroeconomic Industrial Structure
    • O14 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology

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