Article

The effects of reductions in working hours on automation

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Abstract

This study uses a simple model to empirically analyse how reductions in working hours influence automation in the labour market. Previous studies focus on analysing the effects of reductions in working hours on factors such as actual working hours, wages, employment, and life satisfaction. We use panel data from 25 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries over the 2011 to 2017 period. Our empirical findings show that a 1% decrease in the working hours of simple labourers increases automation by 1.13% to 1.15%.

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World robotics: Industrial robots
International Federation of Robotics. (2018) World robotics: Industrial robots, IFR Press Release.