The impact of Robots in Latin America: Evidence from Local Labor Markets

Irene Brambilla, Andrés César, Guillermo Falcone and Leonardo Gasparini
Additional contact information
Irene Brambilla: CEDLAS-IIE-FCE-UNLP
Guillermo Falcone: CEDLAS-IIE-FCE-UNLP & CONICET

CEDLAS, Working Papers from CEDLAS, Universidad Nacional de La Plata

Abstract: We study the effect of robots on labor markets in Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico, the major robot users in Latin America, during the period 2004{2016. We exploit spatial and time variations in exposure to robots arising from initial differences in industry specialization across geographic locations and the evolution of robot adoption across industries, to estimate a causal effect of robots on local labor market outcomes. We find that district's exposure to robots causes a relative deterioration in labor market indicators such us unemployment and labor informality. We document that robots mainly replace formal salaried jobs, affecting young and semi-skilled workers to a greater extent, and that informal employment acts as a buffer that prevents a larger increase in unemployment.

JEL-codes: J23 J24 J31 J46 O14 O17 R10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 35 pages
Date: 2023-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-des, nep-iue, nep-lma, nep-tid and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Related works:
Journal Article: The impact of robots in Latin America: Evidence from local labor markets (2023)
Working Paper: The impact of robots in Latin America: Evidence from local labor markets (2021)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:dls:wpaper:0312

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