Productivity

Is Automation the Key to an Effective Government Workforce?
New technologies are poised to automate everything from infrastructure to traditionally human jobs. Some may fear a coming robot takeover, but as Daniel Castro writes for Government Technology, the real problem is that automation isn't happening fast enough.
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For a menu of actionable ideas for policymakers related to productivity, see ITIF’s “Tech Policy To-Do List.”

Productivity
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December 2, 2019
Is Automation the Key to an Effective Government Workforce?
New technologies are poised to automate everything from infrastructure to traditionally human jobs. Some may fear a coming robot takeover, but as Daniel Castro writes for Government Technology, the real problem is that automation isn't happening fast enough.
December 2, 2019
Fact of the Week: Doubling the Intensity of Investment in Robots Increases an Industry’s Labor Productivity by 6.9 Percent, on Average
Automation boosts labor productivity, which is key to long-run economic growth. A new study examines the impact of automation on labor productivity in nine manufacturing industries across 12 European countries from 1995 to 2005, comparing the number of robots in use in an industry with the amount it invests in non-ICT capital.
November 12, 2019
The Enterprise Automation Imperative—Why Modern Societies Will Need All the Productivity They Can Get
Contrary to common belief, enterprise automation is not a cause for alarm, but instead a societal imperative. Modern nations will need all the productivity they can get to address today’s ever-more-resource-constrained challenges.
October 28, 2019
Fact of the Week: Sectors With High “Income Elasticity” Employ Fewer Medium-Skill Workers, Explaining 60 Percent of the Decline in Their Share of Wages Between 1980 and 2016
The U.S. economy has polarized since 1980, with widening gaps between high- and low-skilled wages driving increased inequality. One study has provided a partial explanation for this trend, identifying that sectors with high “income elasticity” (where demand is more sensitive to changes in income) are more likely to employ both high- and low-skilled workers, but less likely to employ medium-skilled workers.
September 23, 2019
Fact of the Week: Workers Threatened by Automation Have Roles That Are 9 Percent More Complex Than Those Who Aren’t Threatened
Discussions about job losses from automation tend to assume that innovation will overwhelmingly displace low-skill workers. But this view is misguided because it fails to recognize that low-skill jobs are the least profitable for companies to make obsolete.
September 16, 2019
Think Different: Why Progressives Should Stop Bashing ‘Big Tech’
There is much to do to restore the promise of the American dream for U.S. workers. Attacking tech companies might feel good, and even excite some in the progressive base, but it won’t get the job done.
September 12, 2019
Why Federal R&D Policy Needs to Prioritize Productivity to Drive Growth and Reduce the Debt-to-GDP Ratio
The federal government should significantly increase spending on research and development that specifically targets technologies likely to boost productivity in order to spur growth and reduce the budget deficit.
July 29, 2019
Self-Service Gas as an International Development Indicator?
Perhaps the most important step developing nations need to take is throw lump-of-labor thinking overboard and embrace productivity growth, including from technology like self-service gas stations.
July 25, 2019
Higher Productivity Is Good for Workers
As Rob Atkinson writes in National Review, increasing productivity cuts costs, which are passed on to consumers and workers through lower prices and higher wages.
July 22, 2019
No, Automation Is Not Causing a Decline in Workers’ Share of Income
If the history of automation teaches us anything, it is that while automation can temporarily displace some workers it also raises living standards for society by reducing costs, improving quality, and allowing people to concentrate on higher-value work.

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