The Impact of Fear of Automation

Marta Golin and Christopher Rauh

No 17816, CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers

Abstract: In this paper, we establish a causal effect of workers' perceived probability of losing one's job due to automation on worker's policy preferences and workplace intentions. In a representative sample of the US workforce, we elicit the perceived fear of losing one's job to robots or artificial intelligence. We document a strong relationship between fear of automation and intentions to join a union, retrain and switch occupations, preferences for higher taxation, higher government handouts, populist attitudes, and voting intentions. We then show a causal effect of providing information about occupation-specific job loss probabilities on preferred levels of taxation and handouts. In contrast, the information treatment does not affect workers' intentions to self-insure by retraining or switching occupations, but it increases workers' self-reported likelihood of joining a union to seek more job protection. The treatment effects are mostly driven by workers who are informed about larger job loss probabilities than they perceived.

Keywords: Automation; Information treatment; Political attitudes; Political preferences; Redistribution; Inequality; Populism; Unions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H24 J58 J68 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023-01
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Related works:
Working Paper: The Impact of Fear of Automation (2022)
Working Paper: The Impact of Fear of Automation (2022)
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