November 6, 2020 in Resoundingly Human
Robots on the job: What’s the real impact for their human counterparts?
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https://doi.org/10.1287/orms.2020.05.34p
Contrary to the popular notion that robots will displace human labor – we’ve seen a ton of press reports on this – we actually find that robot adopting firms employed more people over time. In fact, we find that any displacement of labor actually comes from firms that did not adopt robots.
As more organizations adopt automation, and for the purposes of this episode, robotics, into their day-to-day functions, questions remain regarding the impact. Are robots replacing their human counterparts or enhancing their work? Or is the answer more complex? And what are the economic implications?
Joining me to provide some insight on the actual impact is Lynn Wu, professor at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. We’ll be discussing her study, “The Robot Revolution: Managerial and Employment Consequences for Firms,” which will be published in the INFORMS journal Management Science.
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Ashley Kilgore has more than a decade of experience in nonprofit communications and public relations, to include print, radio, video, and web. Contact Ashley Kilgore.