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Robots and the skill premium: An automation-based explanation of wage inequality

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  • Lankisch, Clemens
  • Prettner, Klaus
  • Prskawetz, Alexia

Abstract

We analyze the effects of automation on the wages of high-skilled and low-skilled workers and thereby on the evolution of wage inequality. Our model explains the simultaneous presence of i) increasing per capita income, ii) declining real wages of low-skilled workers, and iii) an increasing skill-premium. These developments are consistent with the experience in the United States over the past decades.

Suggested Citation

  • Lankisch, Clemens & Prettner, Klaus & Prskawetz, Alexia, 2017. "Robots and the skill premium: An automation-based explanation of wage inequality," ECON WPS - Working Papers in Economic Theory and Policy 06/2017, TU Wien, Institute of Statistics and Mathematical Methods in Economics, Economics Research Unit.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:tuweco:062017
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Ilona Pavlenkova & Luca Alfieri & Jaan Masso, 2021. "Effects Of Automation On The Gender Pay Gap: The Case Of Estonia," University of Tartu - Faculty of Economics and Business Administration Working Paper Series 131, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Tartu (Estonia).
    2. Zhang, Pengqing, 2019. "Automation, wage inequality and implications of a robot tax," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 500-509.
    3. Dario Cords & Klaus Prettner, 2022. "Technological unemployment revisited: automation in a search and matching framework [The future of work: meeting the global challenges of demographic change and automation]," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 74(1), pages 115-135.
    4. Andre Jungmittag & Annarosa Pesole, 2019. "The impact of robots on labour productivity: A panel data approach covering 9 industries and 12 countries," JRC Working Papers on Labour, Education and Technology 2019-08, Joint Research Centre.
    5. Geiger, Niels & Prettner, Klaus & Schwarzer, Johannes A., 2018. "Automatisierung, Wachstum und Ungleichheit," Hohenheim Discussion Papers in Business, Economics and Social Sciences 13-2018, University of Hohenheim, Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences.
    6. Hayakawa, Kazunobu & Mukunoki, Hiroshi, 2022. "How does additive manufacturing change trade?: evidence from trade in sound recordings," IDE Discussion Papers 848, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    7. Wright, Scott A. & Schultz, Ainslie E., 2018. "The rising tide of artificial intelligence and business automation: Developing an ethical framework," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 61(6), pages 823-832.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    automation; declining wages of low-skilled workers; wage inequality; skill premium; long-run growth;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O41 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - One, Two, and Multisector Growth Models
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality

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