Regional Employment and Artificial Intelligence in Japan

         
Author Name HAMAGUCHI Nobuaki (Faculty Fellow, RIETI) / KONDO Keisuke (Fellow, RIETI)
Creation Date/NO. May 2018 18-E-032
Research Project Regional Economies in the New Era of Globalization and Informatization
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Abstract

This study investigates employment risk caused by new technology, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, using the probability of computerization by Frey and Osborne (2017) and Japanese employment data. The new perspective of this study is the consideration of regional heterogeneity in labor markets due to the uneven geographical distribution of occupations, which is especially observed between male and female workers. This study finds that female workers are exposed to higher risks of computerization than male workers, since they tend to be engaged in occupations with a high probability of computerization. This tendency is more pronounced in larger cities. Our results suggest that supporting additional human capital investment alone is not enough as a risk alleviation strategy against new technology, and policymakers need to address structural labor market issues, such as gender biases for career progression and participation in decision-making positions, in the AI era to mitigate unequal risk of computerization between workers.

This is the English version of the Japanese Discussion Paper (17-J-023) with some additional information and changes.