Narrow Your Choices

Refine By Countries

Refine By Series

Refine By Language

Refine By Date

—

Refine By IMF Taxonomy

Refine By JEL Taxonomy

Refine by LOC Taxonomy

Refine By THEMA Taxonomy

  • Print
  • Save

Technology and Engineering > Automation

You are looking at 1 - 10 of 19 items for

  • Type: Journal Issue x
Clear All Modify Search
Cover Departmental Papers
European Labor Markets and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Fallout and the Path Ahead
Mr. Sakai Ando, Mr. Ravi Balakrishnan, Bertrand Gruss, Mr. Jean-Jacques Hallaert, La-Bhus Fah Jirasavetakul, Koralai Kirabaeva, Nir Klein, Ana Lariau, Lucy Qian Liu, Mr. Davide Malacrino, Mr. Haonan Qu, and Alexandra Solovyeva
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic caused by far the largest shock to European economies since World War II. Yet, astonishingly, the EU unemployment rate had already declined to its pre-crisis level by 2021Q3, and in some countries the labor force participation rate is at a record high. This paper documents that the widespread use of job retention schemes has played an essential role in mitigating the pandemic’s impact on labor markets and thereby facilitating the restart of European economies after the initial lockdowns.
Keywords:
Covid-19 pandemic; labor market; job retention schemes; reallocation; contact-intensive sectors; vacancies; layoffs; automation; reskilling; hiring subsidy; Labor reallocation; recovery prospect; labor market condition; aggregate labor market outcome; unemployment rate forecast; retention scheme; policy support measure; EU unemployment rate; labor market outcome; Labor markets; Employment; COVID-19; Unemployment; Unemployment rate; Europe; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
For the Benefit of All: Fiscal Policies and Equity-Efficiency Trade-offs in the Age of Automation
Mr. Andrew Berg, Lahcen Bounader, Nikolay Gueorguiev, Hiroaki Miyamoto, Mr. Kenji Moriyama, Ryota Nakatani, and Luis-Felipe Zanna
Many studies predict massive job losses and real wage decline as a result of the ongoing widespread automation of production, a trend that may be further aggravated by the COVID-19 crisis. Yet automation is also expected to raise productivity and output. How can we share the gains from automation more widely, for the benefit of all? And what are the attendant equity-efficiency trade-offs? We analyze this issue by considering the effects of fiscal policies that seek to redistribute the gains from automation and address income inequality. We use a dynamic general equilibrium model with monopolistic competition, including a novel specification linking corporate power to automation. While fiscal policy cannot eliminate the classic equity-efficiency trade-offs, it can help improve them, reducing inequality at small or no loss of output. This is particularly so when policy takes advantage of novel, less distortive transmission channels of fiscal policy created by the empirically observed link between corporate market power and automation.
Keywords:
Automation; Fiscal Policy; Redistribution; Technological Change; Mark-up.; C. welfare implication; equivalent income; POLICY package; B. disposable income; D. social welfare; policy package; Robotics; Income inequality; Disposable income; Technological innovation
Cover IMF Working Papers
Pandemics and Automation: Will the Lost Jobs Come Back?
Tahsin Saadi Sedik
COVID-19 has exacerbated concerns about the rise of the robots and other automation technologies. This paper analyzes empirically the impact of past major pandemics on robot adoption and inequality. First, we find that pandemic events accelerate robot adoption, especially when the health impact is severe and is associated with a significant economic downturn. Second, while robots may raise productivity, they could also increase inequality by displacing low-skilled workers. We find that following a pandemic, the increase in inequality over the medium term is larger for economies with higher robot density and where new robot adoption has increased more. Our results suggest that the concerns about the rise of the robots amid the COVID-19 pandemic seem justified.
Keywords:
Pandemics; Robots; Inequality.; WP; pandemic event; studies showing; impact of pandemic; country-industry pair level; industry breakdown
Cover IMF Working Papers
Will the AI Revolution Cause a Great Divergence?
Cristian Alonso, Mr. Andrew Berg, Siddharth Kothari, Mr. Chris Papageorgiou, and Sidra Rehman
This paper considers the implications for developing countries of a new wave of technological change that substitutes pervasively for labor. It makes simple and plausible assumptions: the AI revolution can be modeled as an increase in productivity of a distinct type of capital that substitutes closely with labor; and the only fundamental difference between the advanced and developing country is the level of TFP. This set-up is minimalist, but the resulting conclusions are powerful: improvements in the productivity of “robots” drive divergence, as advanced countries differentially benefit from their initially higher robot intensity, driven by their endogenously higher wages and stock of complementary traditional capital. In addition, capital—if internationally mobile—is pulled “uphill”, resulting in a transitional GDP decline in the developing country. In an extended model where robots substitute only for unskilled labor, the terms of trade, and hence GDP, may decline permanently for the country relatively well-endowed in unskilled labor.
Keywords:
WP; production function; financial asset; Automation; robots; divergence; development; technological change; advanced economy; labor share; unskilled labor; developing economy; robot productivity; robot share; Robotics; Unskilled labor; Labor share; Skilled labor; Global; parameter e; unskilled-labor-saving technology
Cover IMF Research Perspectives
IMF Research Perspectives: Spring-Summer 2020
IMF Research Perspectives Spring-Summer 2020
Keywords:
IRB; worker; view IMF research; MARTINEZ PERIA interview
Cover IMF Working Papers
Automation, Skills and the Future of Work: What do Workers Think?
Mr. Carlos Mulas-Granados, Mr. Richard Varghese, Vizhdan Boranova, Alice deChalendar, and Judith Wallenstein
We exploit a survey data set that contains information on how 11,000 workers across advanced and emerging market economies perceive the main forces shaping the future of work. In general, workers feel more positive than negative about automation, especially in emerging markets. We find that negative perceptions about automation are prevalent among workers who are older, poorer, more exposed to job volatility, and from countries with higher levels of robot penetration. Perceptions over automation are positively viewed by workers with higher levels of job satisfaction, higher educational attainment, and from countries with stronger labor protection. Workers with positive perceptions of automation also tend to respond that re-education and retraining will be needed to adapt to rapidly evolving skill demands. These workers expect governments to have a role in shaping the future of work through protection of labor and new forms of social benefits. The demand for protection and benefits is more significant among women and workers that have suffered job volatility.
Keywords:
WP; worker; Automation; Future of Work; Robotization; Education; Reskilling; Retraining; more-on-the job training; employment characteristic; job happiness; middle-age worker; Emerging technologies; Labor markets; Europe; Africa; Global
Cover IMF Research Bulletin
IMF Research Perspectives: Spring-Summer 2019
The Spring-Summer 2019 issue of the IMF Research Perspectives explores how technology deals with old questions. Articles discuss the ways technological progress and the increased availability of data have helped in some areas, while presenting new challenges for analyzing various matters. The issue also includes an interview with Gita Gopinath, the new director of the IMF Research Department.
Keywords:
IRB; economy; heightened economic risk; investor; energy consumption; asset price; work agenda; investor sentiment; dream job; modeling work; Global; Sub-Saharan Africa; Africa; Consumption; Asset prices; Personal income; Robotics; Income; IMF research perspective; measuring sentiment; director of the research DepartmentTechnological change; future of work; impact of Africa
Cover IMF Working Papers
Is Technology Widening the Gender Gap? Automation and the Future of Female Employment
Mariya Brussevich, Ms. Era Dabla-Norris, and Salma Khalid
Using individual level data on task composition at work for 30 advanced and emerging economies, we find that women, on average, perform more routine tasks than men?tasks that are more prone to automation. To quantify the impact on jobs, we relate data on task composition at work to occupation level estimates of probability of automation, controlling for a rich set of individual characteristics (e.g., education, age, literacy and numeracy skills). Our results indicate that female workers are at a significantly higher risk for displacement by automation than male workers, with 11 percent of the female workforce at high risk of being automated given the current state of technology, albeit with significant cross-country heterogeneity. The probability of automation is lower for younger cohorts of women, and for those in managerial positions.
Keywords:
WP; job task characteristic; job task description; probability of automation; labor force; routine job task; Automation; Technological Change; Jobs; Female Labor Force; Occupational Choice; Gender Equality; gender RTI gap; RTI index; service worker; workers in occupation X; Women; Gender inequality; Europe; Southern Europe; Eastern Europe; Global
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Japan: Selected Issues
International Monetary Fund. Asia and Pacific Dept
This Selected Issues explores Japan’s experiences with past valued added tax (VAT) rate increases and discusses potential policy options to mitigate the economic impact of a third-rate increase. It assesses the impact on the Japanese economy and, where possible, provides some international context. Alongside possible mitigating policies, it also discusses the importance of policy commitment and credibility, and how they can influence the macroeconomic impact of tax rate changes. Carefully designing policy measures and communicating them clearly to the public are paramount to attenuate any negative outcomes in the short term. A simple, single-rate VAT would efficiently raise tax revenues and support the government’s objective of achieving fiscal consolidation in the medium term. Assuming underlying macroeconomic conditions are favorable, the October 2019 VAT rate increase could potentially have a smaller impact on the economy relative to that of 2014 for several reasons. In order to reduce policy uncertainty and alleviate any adverse impacts from the 2019 VAT rate increase, the authorities should clearly communicate the timing and content of associated mitigating measures.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; rate increase; wage growth; yen appreciation; carry trade reversal; inequality trend; interest rate differential; Value-added tax; Consumption taxes; Income inequality; Health care spending; Wages; Global