nep-tid New Economics Papers
on Technology and Industrial Dynamics
Issue of 2021‒10‒18
five papers chosen by
Fulvio Castellacci
Universitetet i Oslo

  1. Robots versus labor skills: a complementarity/substitutability analysis By M. Battisti; M. Del Gatto; A. F. Gravina; C. F. Parmeter
  2. Do robots dream of paying taxes? By Rebecca Christie
  3. Institutions and the productivity challenge for European regions By Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés
  4. The Interaction of Schumpeterian Institutional Entrepreneurship and Hayekian Institutional Change in Innovative Industries By Henrekson, Magnus; Lakomaa, Erik; Sanandaji, Tino
  5. Foreign Trade, Education And Innovative Performance: A Multilevel Analysis By Aysan, Ahmet Faruk; Castillo-Téllez, Luis Carlos; Demirbaş, Dilek; Disli, Mustafa

  1. By: M. Battisti; M. Del Gatto; A. F. Gravina; C. F. Parmeter
    Abstract: The rise of artificial intelligence and automation is fueling anxiety about the replacementof workers with robots and digital technologies. Relying upon a (country-sector-year) constructed measure of robotic capital (RK), we study the extent of complementarity/substitutabilitybetween robots and workers at different skill levels (i.e., high-, medium- and low-skilled workers). The analysis points to a higher elasticity of substitution (EoS) - i.e., higher substitutability - between RK and unskilled labor, compared to skilled labor. Furthermore, we find evidence of polarizing effects, according to which middle-skilled workers, typically employed in intermediate routine and/or codifiable tasks, are the most vulnerable to robotization. Results turn out to be robust to using different - i) definitions of EoS; ii) computations of RK; iii) samples of countries and industries (WIOD vs EU KLEMS data); iv) skill grouping.
    Keywords: Automation;robotization;elasticity of substitution;technology;polarization
    Date: 2021
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cns:cnscwp:202104&r=
  2. By: Rebecca Christie
    Abstract: Robot taxes embody the more futuristic challenges of managing automation and legacy workers. As machines and artificial intelligence take on more roles that used to be performed by humans, policymakers and technologists are assessing the costs this transition imposes and what parts of society will pay them. A robot tax on companies that replace employees with automated systems is easy to dismiss in its most simplistic forms but should be...
    Date: 2021–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bre:polcon:45076&r=
  3. By: Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés
    Abstract: Europe has witnessed a considerable labour productivity slowdown in recent decades. Many potential explanations have been proposed to address this productivity ‘puzzle’. However, how the quality of local institutions influences labour productivity has been overlooked by the literature. This article addresses this gap by evaluating how institutional quality affects labour productivity growth and, particularly, its determinants at the regional level during the period 2003–2015. The results indicate that institutional quality influences regions’ labour productivity growth both directly—as improvements in institutional quality drive productivity growth—and indirectly—as the short- and long-run returns of human capital and innovation on labour productivity growth are affected by regional variations in institutional quality.
    Keywords: Labour productivity; institutional quality; physical capital; human capital; innovation; regions; Europe; OUP deal
    JEL: R14 J01 N0
    Date: 2021–06–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:108915&r=
  4. By: Henrekson, Magnus (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)); Lakomaa, Erik (Institute for Economic and Business History Research (EHFF)); Sanandaji, Tino (Institute for Economic and Business History Research (EHFF))
    Abstract: Innovation often takes place in entrepreneurial ecosystems. We use the history of the Silicon Valley venture capital model and the Hollywood motion picture industry to illustrate how specialized institutions that regulate these entrepreneurial ecosystems emerged through actions by business entrepreneurs, rather than being designed by policymakers. Schumpeterian entrepreneurs not only create new companies; they also create new institutions as an integral part of the restructuring process. At times, efforts of identifiable entrepreneurs are crucial, while in other instances institutional change results from a Hayekian process of emergence fueled by business entrepreneurs’ efforts. Some institutions remain informal, whereas others become formalized. The greater room to forge institutions through business practices may in part account for the higher rates of entrepreneurship observed in common law countries.
    Keywords: Entrepreneurship policy; High-impact entrepreneurship; Innovation; Institutional entrepreneurship; Schumpeterian entrepreneurship
    JEL: L26 M13 O31 P14
    Date: 2021–10–12
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1409&r=
  5. By: Aysan, Ahmet Faruk; Castillo-Téllez, Luis Carlos; Demirbaş, Dilek; Disli, Mustafa
    Abstract: This research analyses the innovative performance of 5273 companies across 64 different economic sectors and 32 different regions in Colombia. We assess the different effects on the innovative performance of firms by analyzing firm, sector, and regional level determinants. The study involves the multilevel approach of the innovation process considering the structure and behavior of innovation systems in developing countries. We furthermore focus on technology transfer from foreign trade and the role of education in the process of innovation. We find that education and open economy variables have a significant relationship with innovation performance at the firm and regional levels.
    Keywords: Multilevel, Innovative Performance, Open Economy Variables, Innovation Systems, Multilevel Regression Models, Development.
    JEL: A1 A2 O24
    Date: 2021–05–05
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:110021&r=

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