## Pandemics and Automation: Will the Lost Jobs Come Back?

_IMF Working Papers, January 15, 2021_

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## Bibliographic details
- Authors: Tahsin Saadi Sedik
- Published: January 15, 2021
- Series: IMF Working Papers
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781513566849.001

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### Overview
- Author: Tahsin Saadi Sedik  
- Date: January 15, 2021  
- Series: Working Paper No. 2021/011  
- Issue: 011; Volume: 2021; Pages: 26  
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781513566849.001  
- ISBN: 9781513566849; ISSN: 1018-5941  
- Subjects: Automation, Communicable diseases, COVID-19, Income inequality, Robotics  
- Keywords: country-industry pair level, impact of pandemic, industry breakdown, Inequality., pandemic event, Pandemics, Robots, studies showing, WP

### Key empirical findings
- Pandemic events accelerate robot adoption, especially when:
  - the health impact is severe, and
  - the pandemic is associated with a significant economic downturn.
- Robots can raise productivity but may increase inequality by displacing low-skilled workers.
- Following a pandemic, the increase in inequality over the medium term is larger for economies with:
  - higher robot density, and
  - greater increases in new robot adoption.
- The paper concludes that concerns about increased automation amid the COVID-19 pandemic appear justified.

### Analysis focus and methodology (as described)
- Empirical analysis of the impact of past major pandemics on:
  - robot adoption, and
  - inequality.
- Unit of observation and approach referenced by keywords: country-industry pair level; industry breakdown.

### Implications and interpretation
- Automation trends post-pandemic:
  - Expect accelerated adoption of robots where pandemics have severe health and economic impacts.
- Distributional consequences:
  - Medium-term increases in inequality are correlated with pre-existing robot density and additional robot adoption following pandemics.
- Policy-relevant takeaway:
  - Trade-offs between productivity gains from robots and distributional impacts due to displacement of low-skilled workers are highlighted by the empirical findings.

*IMF Working Papers: Tahsin Saadi Sedik, "Pandemics and Automation: Will the Lost Jobs Come Back?", January 15, 2021, Working Paper No. 2021/011, DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781513566849.001*

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/wp/issues/2021/01/15/pandemics-and-automation-will-the-lost-jobs-come-back-50000_