NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Wednesday, July 3, 2019

By Sneha Alexander

Automation, a growing part of daily life, can make work easier but has also raised concerns about potential disruption and job loss. According to one World Bank estimate, two-thirds of jobs in developing countries could be lost to automation.

A new research study by Osea Giuntella and Tianyi Wang published by the IZA Institute of Labour Economics, Germany, which explores the implications of automation in China, adds to these concerns.

To measure the impact of automation on the Chinese labour market, the author examined data from the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) for countries’ robotic exposure between 2000-2016, the Chinese government’s National Bureau of Statistics data on city-level employment and wages and other datasets.

Photo courtesy of Steve Jurvetson.