The impact of robots on unemployment duration: Evidence from the Chinese General Social Survey

Linhui Wang, Huilin Zhou and Guanghua Wan

China Economic Review, 2025, vol. 89, issue C

Abstract: The issue of the impact of robot applications on unemployment duration remains relatively unexplored. Using individual-level data from the Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS), we shed new light on the effects of robots on unemployment likelihood and duration. Major findings include that: (1) robots prolong the duration of unemployment, particularly for workers in routine occupations compared with those in non-routine occupations. This phenomenon can be understood as a form of structural unemployment; (2) workers with low skills, low economic and occupational status, and parenting responsibilities suffer more from the robot shock. In particular, robots adversely affect women's careers, and traditional perceptions amplify this effect to dampen their willingness and efforts to search for job, resulting in longer periods of unemployment. These heterogeneous impacts of robots on unemployment duration highlight the need for greater support and policy interventions for vulnerable groups; (3) access to information from digital channels plays a pivotal role in alleviating the adverse impact of robots on vulnerable groups. Reducing information asymmetry and nurturing job search capabilities help the vulnerable better adapt to evolving labor market conditions, thereby mitigating the negative consequences of robots.

Keywords: Robots; Unemployment duration; Occupational sensitivity; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J64 O12 O33 P23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1043951X24001949
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:chieco:v:89:y:2025:i:c:s1043951x24001949

DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2024.102305

Access Statistics for this article

China Economic Review is currently edited by B.M. Fleisher, K. X. D. Huang, M.E. Lovely, Y. Wen, X. Zhang and X. Zhu

More articles in China Economic Review from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().