Automatic Reaction – What Happens to Workers at Firms thatAutomate?

Automatic Reaction – What Happens to Workers at Firms thatAutomate?∗James Bessen†Boston UniversityMaarten Goos‡Utrecht UniversityAnna Salomons§Utrecht UniversityWiljan van den Berge¶CPBSeptember 2019 


Abstract 

We provide the first estimates of automation’s impacts on individual workers by combin-ing Dutch micro-data with a direct measure of automation expenditures covering firms inall private non-financial industries over 2000-2016. Using a differences-in-differences designexploiting automation event timing, we find that firm-level automation increases the prob-ability of workers separating from their employers and decreases days worked, leading to a5-year cumulative wage income loss of 11 percent of one year’s earnings. These losses areonly partially offset by benefits systems, and quite pervasive across worker types, firm sizesand sectors. Further, no such losses are found for computerization events.

https://conference.nber.org/conf_papers/f129904.pdf