Measuring the technological bias of robot adoption and its implications for the aggregate labor share
Research Policy · 2023 · Volume 52 · Issue 9
DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2023.104848
Abstract
This paper investigates the technological bias of robot adoption using a rich panel data set of Spanish manufacturing firms over a 25-year period. We apply the production function estimation when productivity is multidimensional to the case of an automating technology, to reveal the Hicks-neutral and labor-augmenting technological change brought about by robot adoption within firms. Our results indicate a causal effect of robots on Hicks-neutral and labor-augmenting components of productivity. The biased technological change turns out to be an important determinant of the decline in the aggregate share of labor in the Spanish manufacturing sector.
Keywords
Robots, Technological change, Productivity, Automation, Labor share
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