Heterogeneous Adjustments of Employment to Automation Technologies: Evidence from Manufacturing Industries in European Regions*

Automation of activities changes the demand for labor across industries, regions, and occupations (Acemoglu and Restrepo 2019). However, the net effect of investment in different digital and automation technologies on employment in local labor markets remains unclear (see Aghion et al. 2022 for a survey), especially among European regions that differ in their industry composition, labor force characteristics, and technological endowments. These differences raise questions for policymakers about how to best deal with the varying effects of automation technologies across regions and industries, and over time. How do employment adjustments differ in structurally diverse regions such as Inner London (a knowledge and service-intensive region), Stuttgart (a high-tech and manufacturing-intensive region), and Calabria (a low-tech tourist-driven region) in the wake of increased investment in a given automation technology? © 2022, CESifo Forum. All Rights Reserved