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Labour-saving automation and occupational exposure: a text-similarity measure

Author

Listed:
  • Fabio Montobbio

    (Dipartimento di Politica Economica, DISCE, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore – BRICK, Collegio Carlo Alberto, Torino – ICRIOS, Bocconi University, Milano)

  • Jacopo Staccioli

    (Dipartimento di Politica Economica, DISCE, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore – Institute of Economics, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa)

  • Maria Enrica Virgillito

    (Institute of Economics, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa – Dipartimento di Politica Economica, DISCE, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore)

  • Marco Vivarelli

    (Dipartimento di Politica Economica, DISCE, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore – UNU-MERIT, Maastricht, The Netherlands – IZA, Bonn, Germany)

Abstract

This paper represents one of the first attempts at building a direct measure of occupational exposure to robotic labour-saving technologies. After identifying robotic and labour-saving robotic patents retrieved by Montobbio et al., (2022), the underlying 4-digit CPC definitions are employed in order to detect functions and operations performed by technological artefacts which are more directed to substitute the labour input. This measure allows to obtain fine-grained information on tasks and occupations according to their similarity ranking. Occupational exposure by wage and employment dynamics in the United States is then studied, complemented by investigating industry and geographical penetration rates.

Suggested Citation

  • Fabio Montobbio & Jacopo Staccioli & Maria Enrica Virgillito & Marco Vivarelli, 2021. "Labour-saving automation and occupational exposure: a text-similarity measure," DISCE - Quaderni del Dipartimento di Politica Economica dipe0021, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Dipartimenti e Istituti di Scienze Economiche (DISCE).
    • Handle: RePEc:ctc:serie5:dipe0021
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Cited by:

    1. Tommaso Rughi & Jacopo Staccioli & Maria Enrica Virgillito, 2023. "Climate change and labour-saving technologies: the twin transition via patent texts," LEM Papers Series 2023/11, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Labour-Saving Technology; Natural Language Processes; Labour Markets; Technological Unemployment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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