The researchers said the findings — “large and robust negative effects of robots on employment and wages” — remained strong even after controlling for imports, offshoring, software
that displaces jobs, worker demographics and the type of industry.
For every robot per thousand workers, up to six workers lost their jobs
and wages fell by as much as three-fourths of a percent, according to a new paper by the economists, Daron Acemoglu of M. I.T.
From 1993 to 2007, the United States added one new industrial robot for every thousand
workers — mostly in the Midwest, South and East — and Western Europe added 1.6.
The study, a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper published Monday, used data on the number of robots from
the International Federation of Robotics (there is no consistent data on the monetary value of the robots in use.)
“The market economy is not going to create the jobs by itself for these workers who are bearing the brunt of the change.”
The paper’s evidence of job displacement from technology contrasts with a comment from the Treasury secretary, Steve Mnuchin, who said at an Axios event last week
that artificial intelligence’s displacement of human jobs was “not even on our radar screen,” and “50 to 100 more years” away.
In a paper last year, they said it was likely that increased automation would create new, better jobs, so employment
and wages would eventually return to their previous levels.
