Industry 4.0, migration and the labour market adjustment: an intra-European perspective

Client/Funding Institution

Anniversary Fund of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank

Abstract

The mechanism through which robot adoption affects the labour market, skill composition and wage levels, and consequently the pull and push factors of migration, is the main focus of the study. The project will comprehensively study this phenomenon by analysing various interactions between the adoption of robots, labour demand and wages, and migration patterns in four work packages. First, the impact of robot adoption on wages and skills by sector will be studied. Second, the impact of robot adoption in manufacturing industries on migration flows by sectors and skills in selected EU countries will be analysed, also controlling for other factors. Third, the impact of the gap in automation defined by the difference in robot intensity (i.e. robot stocks per employee) between the origin and destination countries on bilateral migration flows will be analysed. Fourth, push and pull factors affecting the intention to migrate will be studied at the individual level.

Duration

October 2021 - March 2024

wiiw team Leader

Mahdi Ghodsi

wiiw Staff

Birgit Buschbom, Alexandra Bykova, Michael Landesmann, Isilda Mara, Leon Podkaminer

Countries covered: CESEE, EU

Research Areas: Labour, Migration and Income Distribution

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