Institutions, Holdup and Automation
This seminar will be conducted through Zoom. Please register to join this seminar. You will then receive an email with the dial in details. The seminar will not be recorded.

Registration: zoom.us/meeting/register/uJMpd-ippjsi4UY3bvlELef-nC56HfWc7Q

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ABSTRACT:
This paper documents a positive relationship between labor-friendly institutions and investment in industrial robots in a sample of developing and advanced economies. Institutions explain a substantial share of cross-country variation in automation. The relationship between institutions and robots is stronger in sunk cost-intensive industries, where producers are more vulnerable to holdup. The result suggests that one reason for producers to invest in automation is to thwart rent appropriation by labor. As a consequence, policies aimed at supporting workers’ welfare by increasing their bargaining power might actually reduce their employment opportunities.
The paper can be found here: www.inet.ox.ac.uk/publications/institutions-holdup-and-automation
Date: 14 May 2020, 15:00 (Thursday, 3rd week, Trinity 2020)
Venue: Virtual Seminar via Zoom (please register to attend)
Speaker: Giorgio Presidente (Future of Work Programme, Oxford Martin School)
Organising department: Institute for New Economic Thinking
Organiser: Susan Mousley (INET Oxford Admin Team)
Organiser contact email address: events@inet.ox.ac.uk
Part of: INET Oxford Researcher Seminars
Booking required?: Required
Booking url: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/uJMpd-ippjsi4UY3bvlELef-nC56HfWc7Q
Audience: Members of the University only
Editor: Susan Mousley