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Robotic capital - skill complementarity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 November 2024

Michele Battisti ,
Massimo Del Gatto ,
Antonio Francesco Gravina  and
Christopher F. Parmeter
Michele Battisti
Affiliation:
RCEA, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
Massimo Del Gatto
Affiliation:
G. d'Annunzio, University of Chieti-Pescara, Pescara, Italy; LUISS, Rome, Italy and CRENoS, Cagliari, Italy
Antonio Francesco Gravina
Affiliation:
University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
Christopher F. Parmeter*
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, University of Miami, Carol Gables, USA
*
Corresponding author: Christopher F. Parmeter; Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Relying upon an original (country-sector-year) measure of robotic capital ($RK$), we investigate the degree of complementarity/substitutability between robots and workers at different skill levels. We employ nonparametric methods to estimate elasticity of substitution patterns between $RK$ and skilled/unskilled labor over the period 1995–2009. We show that: i) on average, $RK$ exhibits less substitutability with skilled workers compared to unskilled workers, indicating a phenomenon of “RK-Skill complementarity”. This pattern holds in a global context characterized by significant heterogeneity; ii) the dynamic of “RK-Skill complementarity” has increased since the early 2000s; iii) the observed strengthening is more prominent in OECD countries, as opposed to non-OECD countries, and in the Manufacturing sector, compared to non-Manufacturing industries.

Keywords

Automationelasticity of substitutionrobotizationtechnologyC23E24J31O33O47
Type
Articles
Information
Macroeconomic Dynamics , Volume 29 , 2025 , e54
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press

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