Automation, Growth, and Factor Shares in the Era of Population Aging

E-print/Working paper (2020)

How does population aging affect economic growth and factor shares in times of increasingly automatable production processes? The present paper addresses this question in a new macroeconomic model of ... [more ▼]

How does population aging affect economic growth and factor shares in times of increasingly automatable production processes? The present paper addresses this question in a new macroeconomic model of automation where competitive firms perform tasks to produce output. Tasks require labor and machines as inputs. New machines embody superior technological knowledge and substitute for labor in the performance of tasks. The incentive to automate is stronger if wages are higher. Automation is shown to boost the aggregate demand for labor if and only if the incentives to automate are strong enough and to reduce the labor share. These predictions obtain even though automation is labor-augmenting in the reduced-form production function. Population aging due to a higher longevity or a decline in fertility may strengthen or weaken the incentives to automate. Irrespective of its source, population aging is predicted to increase the growth rate of per-capita GDP in the short and in the long run. The short-run effect of higher longevity on the labor share is positive whereas the effect of a declining fertility is negative. In the long run, population aging reduces the labor share. [less ▲]

The Supply of Hours Worked and Endogenous Growth Cycles

E-print/Working paper (2020)

We show that declining hours of work per worker in conjunction with a growing work force may give rise to growth cycles. This is accomplished in an overlapping generations model where individuals are ... [more ▼]

We show that declining hours of work per worker in conjunction with a growing work force may give rise to growth cycles. This is accomplished in an overlapping generations model where individuals are endowed with Boppart-Krusell preferences (Boppart and Krusell (2020)), i. e., the wage elasticity of their supply of hours worked is negative. On the supply side, economic growth is due to the expansion of consumption-good varieties through endogenous research. We show that a sufficiently negative equilibrium elasticity of the individual supply of hours worked to an expansion in the set of consumption-good varieties opens up the possibility of growth cycles where the economy fluctuates between two regimes, one with and the other without an active research sector. We identify period-2 and period-3 cycles, conclude with Li and Yorke (1975) that cycles of any periodicity exists, and generalize our findings to period-n cycles. We show that the possibility of cycles occurs under empirically plausible conditions. Throughout, we emphasize that the economics of cycles is linked to the intergenerational trade of shares and their pricing in the asset market. [less ▲]

The Supply of Hours Worked and Endogenous Growth Cycles

Presentation (2020)

Automation, Growth, and Factor Shares in the Era of Population Aging

Presentation (2020)

Individual Attitudes towards Immigration in Aging Populations

E-print/Working paper (2019)

This research empirically establishes the hypothesis that the process of population aging in a society as a whole affects the attitudes of its members towards immigration. Hence, an aging social ... [more ▼]

This research empirically establishes the hypothesis that the process of population aging in a society as a whole affects the attitudes of its members towards immigration. Hence, an aging social environment exerts an effect on the attitudes of individuals towards immigration after accounting for their age and other individual characteristics. We test this hypothesis in a multilevel analysis of individuals living in 25 European OECD countries over the period 2002-2017. Our measure of “societal population aging” is the old-age dependency ratio. “Attitudes” are taken from immigration related questions in eight consecutive rounds of the European Social Survey. For these attitudes we find non-linear, U-shaped relationships. Hence, the effect of societal population aging on individual attitudes towards immigration is negative in young societies and positive in old ones. [less ▲]

Automation, Growth, and Factor Shares in the Era of Population Aging

Presentation (2019)

How does population aging affect factor shares and economic growth in times of declining investment good prices and increasingly automated production processes? The present paper addresses this question ... [more ▼]

How does population aging affect factor shares and economic growth in times of declining investment good prices and increasingly automated production processes? The present paper addresses this question in a new model of automation where competitive firms perform tasks to produce output. Tasks require labor and machines as inputs. New machines embody superior technological knowledge and substitute for labor in the performance of tasks. The incentive to automate is stronger when the expected wage is higher or when the price of an automation investment is lower. Automation is shown to i) boost the aggregate demand for labor if the incentives to automate are strong enough and ii) reduce the labor share. These predictions obtain even though automation is labor-augmenting in the economy’s reduced-form production function. In the short run, population aging weakens the incentives to automate and increases the labor share as individuals augment their labor supply. These implications may be neutralized if, at the same time, the price of investment goods declines. In the log-run, population aging and a lower price of investment goods are reinforcing. Both imply more automation, a lower labor share, and faster economic growth. [less ▲]

Automation, Growth, and Factor Shares in the Era of Population Aging

Scientific Conference (2019)

How does population aging affect factor shares and economic growth in times of declining investment good prices and increasingly automated production processes? The present paper addresses this question ... [more ▼]

How does population aging affect factor shares and economic growth in times of declining investment good prices and increasingly automated production processes? The present paper addresses this question in a new model of automation where competitive firms perform tasks to produce output. Tasks require labor and machines as inputs. New machines embody superior technological knowledge and substitute for labor in the performance of tasks. The incentive to automate is stronger when the expected wage is higher or when the price of an automation investment is lower. Automation is shown to i) boost the aggregate demand for labor if the incentives to automate are strong enough and ii) reduce the labor share. These predictions obtain even though automation is labor-augmenting in the economy’s reduced-form production function. In the short run, population aging weakens the incentives to automate and increases the labor share as individuals augment their labor supply. These implications may be neutralized if, at the same time, the price of investment goods declines. In the log-run, population aging and a lower price of investment goods are reinforcing. Both imply more automation, a lower labor share, and faster economic growth. [less ▲]

Automation, Growth, and Factor Shares in the Era of Population Aging

Scientific Conference (2019)

How does population aging affect factor shares and economic growth in times of declining investment good prices and increasingly automated production processes? The present paper addresses this question ... [more ▼]

How does population aging affect factor shares and economic growth in times of declining investment good prices and increasingly automated production processes? The present paper addresses this question in a new model of automation where competitive firms perform tasks to produce output. Tasks require labor and machines as inputs. New machines embody superior technological knowledge and substitute for labor in the performance of tasks. The incentive to automate is stronger when the expected wage is higher or when the price of an automation investment is lower. Automation is shown to i) boost the aggregate demand for labor if the incentives to automate are strong enough and ii) reduce the labor share. These predictions obtain even though automation is labor-augmenting in the economy’s reduced-form production function. In the short run, population aging weakens the incentives to automate and increases the labor share as individuals augment their labor supply. These implications may be neutralized if, at the same time, the price of investment goods declines. In the log-run, population aging and a lower price of investment goods are reinforcing. Both imply more automation, a lower labor share, and faster economic growth. [less ▲]

Rents and Research in Modern Growth Theory

Presentation (2019)

Wie Luxemburg weiter wachsen kann

Article for general public (2018)