Coevolution of job automation risk and workplace governance

Filippo Belloc, Gabriel Burdin, Luca Cattani, William Ellis and Fabio Landini

Research Policy, 2022, vol. 51, issue 3

Abstract: This paper analyses the interplay between the allocation of authority within firms and workers’ exposure to automation risk. We propose an evolutionary model to study the complementary fit of job design and workplace governance as resulting from the adoption of worker voice institutions, in particular employee representation (ER). Two organizational conventions are likely to emerge in our framework: in one, workplace governance is based on ER and job designs have low automation risk; in the other, ER is absent and workers are involved in automation-prone production tasks. Using data from a large sample of European workers, we document that automation risk is negatively associated with the presence of ER, consistently with our theoretical framework. Our analysis helps to rationalize the historical experience of Nordic countries, where simultaneous experimentation with codetermination rights and job enrichment programmes has taken place. Policy debates about the consequences of automation on labour organization should avoid technological determinism and devote more attention to socio-institutional factors shaping the future of work.

Keywords: Automation risk; Job design; Employee representation; Evolutionary game (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Coevolution of Job Automation Risk and Workplace Governance (2021)
Working Paper: Coevolution of Job Automation Risk and Workplace Governance (2020)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:respol:v:51:y:2022:i:3:s004873332100233x

DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2021.104441

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