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abstract:
We study the effect of the adoption of automation technologies – industrial robots, software and databases – on the incidence of atypical employment in 13 E.U. countries between 2006 and 2018. We combine survey microdata with sectoral information on technology use and exploit the variation at the demographic group level. Using instrumental variables estimation, we find that industrial robots significantly increase atypical employment share, mainly through involuntary part-time and involuntary fixed-term work. We find no robust effect of software and databases. We also show that the higher trade union coverage mitigates the robots’ impact on atypical employment, while employment protection legislation appears to play no role. Using historical decompositions, we attribute about 1-2 percentage points of atypical employment shares to rising robot exposure, especially in Central and Eastern European countries with low unionisation.
keywords:
robots, automation, atypical employment, trade unions
publication year:
2024
language:
english
Publications category:
labour market
publishing series:
IBS Working Paper
publication number:
02/2024
ISSN:
2451-4373
Additional information:
We thank Karolien Leanarts, Nina Furbach, the participants of workshops in Warsaw, Leuven, and Perugia, and the 16th Joint IOS/APB Summer Academy on Central and Eastern Europe for their helpful comments. This paper uses Eurostat data. Eurostat is not responsible for the results and conclusions, which are those of the authors. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme under grant agreement No. 101061388 (project WeLaR). The usual disclaimers apply. All errors are ours.
