## The Exposure to Routinization: Labor Market Implications for Developed and Developing Economies

_IMF Working Papers, June 13, 2018_

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## Bibliographic details
- Authors: Mitali Das, Benjamin Hilgenstock
- Published: June 13, 2018
- Series: IMF Working Papers
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781484361900.001

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### Overview and objective
- Title: The Exposure to Routinization: Labor Market Implications for Developed and Developing Economies
- Authors: Mitali Das, Benjamin Hilgenstock
- Publication date: June 13, 2018
- Series: Working Paper No. 2018/135
- Issue: 135
- Pages: 39
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781484361900.001
- ISBN: 9781484361900
- ISSN: 1018-5941
- Core objective: Propose a measure of the exposure to routinization (the risk of displacement of labor by information technology) and assemble empirical facts linking exposure to prospects of labor-market polarization across countries.

### Key empirical findings
- Sample coverage:
  - Exposure measures drawn for about 85 countries since 1990.
- Main empirical facts established:
  - (1) Developing economies are significantly less exposed to routinization than their developed counterparts.
  - (2) The initial exposure to routinization is a strong predictor of the long-run exposure.
  - (3) Among countries with high initial exposures to routinization, polarization dynamics have been strong and subsequent exposures have fallen; while among those with low initial exposure, the globalization of trade and structural transformation have prevailed and routine exposures have risen.
- Evidence on polarization:
  - Documented automation-driven polarization in many developed economies.
  - Little evidence of polarization in developing countries thus far.

### Interpretation and implications
- Trends:
  - Rapidly rising exposures to routinization in many countries.
- Risks and potential consequences:
  - Escalation of future labor market polarization risks.
  - Potentially significant consequences for productivity, growth and distribution.

### Subject tags and keywords (as provided)
- Subject: Economic growth, Employment, Labor, Labor force, Labor markets, Structural transformation
- Keywords: automation, developed economy, developing economy, economies fall, Employment, employment share, exposure to routinization, Global, globalization, inequality, information technology, Labor force, Labor markets, Polarization, routine exposure, routine occupations, structural transformation, WP

*Source: IMF Working Paper No. 2018/135, "The Exposure to Routinization: Labor Market Implications for Developed and Developing Economies", Mitali Das and Benjamin Hilgenstock, June 13, 2018.*

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## Content in this bundle

- **wp18135 - Section 3 discusses the drivers and mechanisms which lie behind polarization in developed**
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_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/wp/issues/2018/06/13/the-exposure-to-routinization-labor-market-implications-for-developed-and-developing-45989_