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Infection Risk at Work, Automatability, and Employment

Author

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  • Ana L. Abeliansky

    (Department of Economics, Vienna University of Economics and Business)

  • Klaus Prettner

    (Department of Economics, Vienna University of Economics and Business)

  • Roman Stoellinger

    (Department of Economics, Vienna University of Economics and Business)

Abstract

We propose a model of production featuring the trade-off between employing workers versus employing robots and analyze the extent to which this trade-off is altered by the emergence of a highly transmissible infectious disease. Since workers are - in contrast to robots - susceptible to pathogens and also spread them at the workplace, the emergence of a new infectious disease should reduce demand for human labor. According to the model, the reduction in labor demand concerns automatable occupations and increases with the viral transmission risk. We test the model's predictions using Austrian employment data over the period 2015-2021, during which the COVID-19 pandemic increased the infection risk at the workplace substantially. We find a negative effect on occupation-level employment emanating from the higher viral transmission risk in the COVID years. As predicted by the model, a reduction in employment is detectable for automatable occupations but not for non-automatable occupations.

Suggested Citation

  • Ana L. Abeliansky & Klaus Prettner & Roman Stoellinger, 2023. "Infection Risk at Work, Automatability, and Employment," Department of Economics Working Papers wuwp352, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:wiw:wiwwuw:wuwp352
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • J32 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Nonwage Labor Costs and Benefits; Retirement Plans; Private Pensions
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

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