When automation hits jobs: Entrepreneurship as an alternative career path

Daehyun Kim, Taekyun Kim, Wonjoon Kim and Hyejin Youn

PLOS ONE, 2025, vol. 20, issue 9, 1-20

Abstract: This study investigates the relationship between occupational automation risks and workers’ transitions to entrepreneurship using data from the Current Population Survey. We find that employees facing automation-related job displacement are inclined to shift toward unincorporated entrepreneurship, emphasizing entrepreneurship as a viable alternative career path. Noteworthy variations emerge when examining specific automation technologies, revealing a positive association between industrial robots and entrepreneurial transitions, whereas artificial intelligence displays a negative relationship. Gender disparities are observed, with female workers exhibiting a lower likelihood than males of transitioning into entrepreneurship. This study also shows a heightened prominence of entrepreneurial transitions during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. By illuminating entrepreneurship as a response to job displacement, our results offer crucial policy insights into the labor market implications of automation.

Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0331244

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0331244

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