Automation and the future of work: How rhetoric shapes the response in policy preferences

Karen Jeffrey

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 2021, vol. 192, issue C, 417-433

Abstract: I investigate how increasing perceived vulnerability to an automation shock influences redistributive preferences, and how exposure to rhetoric mediates that response. I field a pre-registered survey experiment to 2500 UK residents and find that as perceived vulnerability increases, redistributive preferences remain constant or decline. However, the addition of rhetoric that causes respondents to view automation-induced inequality as unfair increases support for redistributive policies. The effects are pronounced among more-educated respondents - a group expected to increasingly be affected by automation going forward. These findings underscore the need to look beyond automation’s labor market effects to thoroughly understand its political implications.

Keywords: Technological change; Automation; Shocks; Inequality; Redistribution; Rhetoric (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D30 D72 H23 H24 O38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (14)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:192:y:2021:i:c:p:417-433

DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2021.10.019

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