Using Google search data to examine factory automation and its effect on employment

Céline Diebold

Economic Analysis and Policy, 2025, vol. 86, issue C, 1301-1328

Abstract: This paper revisits the link between robot adoption and employment across more than 100 European regions over a period of five years. A simple model is provided arguing that interest in robots precedes the actual deployment of robots. Thus, a novel instrument is introduced: interest in automation revealed by Google searches. This allows for a tentatively causal interpretation of the results. A small, yet significant positive aggregate effect is identified, along with heterogeneous effects across sex and educational attainment. The local effect on aggregate employment tends to be roughly twice as large as the spillover effect on neighbouring regions.

Keywords: Search data; Automation; Robots; Employment; Labour (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C26 J21 O33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecanpo:v:86:y:2025:i:c:p:1301-1328

DOI: 10.1016/j.eap.2025.03.042

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