Robots and Firms

For whom the bell tolls: The firm-level effects of automation on wage and gender inequality

“…In line with previous descriptions from the literature (Koch et al, 2019;Deng et al, 2021;Domini et al, 2021), firms adopting automation and AI are larger, more productive, and pay higher wages than non-adopting firms. Such a difference in the wage level is present at all levels of the wage distribution and is more pronounced at higher levels.…”

“…How do these results compare to other estimates from the literature? Precise estimates of the relation between automation and wages can be found in the case of the adoption of industrial robots (Koch et al, 2019;Barth et al, 2020;Humlum, 2020). Koch et al (2019) find no significant effect of robot adoption on the average firm wage in Spain; Barth et al (2020) find a 4% increase in the average log hourly wage in manufacturing firms in Norway, and Humlum (2020) report an 8% increase in the wage bill in the case of Denmark.…”

“…While aggregate-level studies have failed to find a consensus (the effect of automation on aggregate employment is negative according to , neutral according to Graetz andMichaels 2018 andDauth et al 2018, and positive according to Klenert et al 2020), firm-level evidence has been more consistent in showing a positive effect on employment in firms that adopt automation (Domini et al, 2021;Koch et al, 2019;Bonfiglioli et al, 2020;Aghion et al, 2020). 5 Some studies, together with employment, consider the impact of robot adoption (Koch et al, 2019;Humlum, 2020) or automation intensity (Dinlersoz et al, 2018a;Aghion et al, 2020) on the average firm wage. Humlum (2020) and Dinlersoz et al (2018a) find a positive impact, while Aghion et al (2020) and Koch et al (2019) do not report a significant effect.…”

“…5 Some studies, together with employment, consider the impact of robot adoption (Koch et al, 2019;Humlum, 2020) or automation intensity (Dinlersoz et al, 2018a;Aghion et al, 2020) on the average firm wage. Humlum (2020) and Dinlersoz et al (2018a) find a positive impact, while Aghion et al (2020) and Koch et al (2019) do not report a significant effect. Finally, Bessen et al (2020a) focus on individual workers' outcomes in the Netherlands and show that after an automation cost spike, daily wages increase, although days of work decrease.…”

Not a Typical Firm: The Joint Dynamics of Firms, Labor Shares, and Capital–Labor Substitution

“…5 This pattern is not unique to the US. Recent papers document that the adoption of industrial robots concentrates in the largest manufacturing firms across several countries (see Koch, Manuylov and Smolka, 2019;Humlum, 2019;Bonfiglioli et al, 2020;Acemoglu, Lelarge and Restrepo, 2020). that large firms not only differ in their productivity (and potentially their markups) but also in the extent to which their production relies on capital-intensive technologies.…”