Robots and Labor in the Service Sector: Evidence from Nursing Homes

Karen Eggleston, Yong Suk Lee and Toshiaki Iizuka

No 28322, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: In one of the first studies of service sector robotics using establishment-level data, we study the impact of robots on staffing in Japanese nursing homes, using geographic variation in robot subsidies as an instrumental variable. We find that robot adoption increases employment by augmenting the number of care workers and nurses on flexible employment contracts, and decreases difficulty in staff retention. Robot adoption also reduces the monthly wages of regular nurses, consistent with reduced burden of care. Our findings suggest that the impact of robots may not be detrimental to labor and may remedy challenges posed by rapidly aging populations.

JEL-codes: I11 J14 J23 O30 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-age, nep-hea and nep-lab
Note: AG EH LS
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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