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Thor Berger . Photo

Thor Berger

Associate senior lecturer

Thor Berger . Photo

Industrial automation and intergenerational income mobility in the United States

Author

  • Thor Berger
  • Per Engzell

Summary, in English

This article examines how the automation of jobs has shaped spatial patterns of intergenerational income mobility in the United States over the past three decades. Using data on the spread of industrial robots across 722 local labor markets, we find significantly lower rates of upward mobility in areas more exposed to automation. The erosion of mobility chances is rooted in childhood environments and is particularly evident among males growing up in low-income households. These findings reveal how recent technological advances have contributed to the unequal patterns of economic opportunity in the United States today.

Department/s

  • Centre for Economic Demography
  • Department of Economic History
  • Growth, technological change, and inequality

Publishing year

2022

Language

English

Publication/Series

Social Science Research

Volume

104

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Elsevier

Topic

  • Economics and Business

Keywords

  • Deindustrialization
  • Income distribution
  • Intergenerational mobility
  • Regional inequality
  • Social mobility
  • Technological change

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0049-089X