Automation versus openness: Support for policies to address job threats

Does the threat of automation of workers' employment provoke distinct policy preferences from that of globalization? There remain few studies that directly compare the impact of these structural threats on public policy preferences. We present hypotheses about how these different threats affect...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Kuo, Alexander, Manzano, Dulce, Gallego Dobón, Aina
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Fecha de publicación:2023
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de la UB
OAI Identifier:oai:diposit.ub.edu:2445/194623
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/194623
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Automatització
Política de despeses públiques
Automation
Government spending policy
Descripción
Sumario:Does the threat of automation of workers' employment provoke distinct policy preferences from that of globalization? There remain few studies that directly compare the impact of these structural threats on public policy preferences. We present hypotheses about how these different threats affect support for policies to prevent such shocks as well as policies to compensate via redistribution. Using vignette and conjoint experiments embedded in survey evidence from Spain, we find that the threat of automation does not provoke any greater demand for redistribution than does openness. Nor does job loss due to automation provoke beliefs of greater deservingness of transfers, compared to job loss from openness. We find that while the threat of offshoring and hiring foreign workers does cause greater support for policies to prevent this process from happening, scenarios of robot substitution do not provoke a similar reaction. These results suggest policies to prioritize automation over openness may gain less political traction