Automation and the Disappearance of Routine Work in Japan

         
Author Name KIKUCHI Shinnosuke (MIT) / FUJIWARA Ippei (Faculty Fellow, RIETI) / SHIROTA Toyoichiro (Aoyama Gakuin University)
Creation Date/NO. November 2023 23-E-082
Research Project Macroeconomy and automation
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Notes

First draft: November 2023
Revised: May 2024

Abstract

We examine the implications of automation technology in Japan since 1980, comparing different local labor markets with different degrees of automation exposure. First, we do not find that automation reduces the employment rate within demographic groups and that automation encourages workers to move from regular to non-regular employment. Second, we show that automation shifts employment from routine occupations in the manufacturing sector to service sectors, while increasing the share of establishments and sales in the manufacturing sector. Finally, we show that this shift in labor demand is attributed to younger generations and non-college-educated workers.

Published: Kikuchi, Shinnosuke, Ippei Fujiwara, and Toyoichiro Shirota, 2024. "Automation and the disappearance of routine work in Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Volume 74 (2024), 101338.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0889158324000340