Productivity

A recent study highlights the critical role the U.S. government played in financing and developing patented technologies coming out of regional technology clusters.

The implications of this should be clear. The only way for the United States to compete with dollar-adjusted lower manufacturing wages in China is for manufacturers in America to be more productive—and automation, including robotics, is the key way to do that.

A recent study found that there is a positive relationship between investment in automation and employment, and the relationship is even stronger for industries that experience greater competition from abroad.

In a recent working paper, authors found that engineers and other technical workers raise firm-level productivity by 4 to 5 percent more than otherwise expected without the employment of techies in a year.

Given the benefits of automation in logistics facilities, policymakers should enact legislation that provides warehousing and storage companies with the resources they need to innovate and incorporate robots into their operations, supports workers throughout job transitions, and promotes resiliency in U.S. supply chains.

A recent paper for the National Bureau of Economic Research found customer support agents using an AI tool to guide their conversations saw a nearly 14 percent increase in productivity.

Government R&D accounted for about one-quarter, on average, of a business sector’s TFP growth since World War II.

For virtually our entire history, Americans have supported increased productivity, even as it led to some worker displacement, because they have understood that productivity is the sin quo non of increased wages and living standards. Unfortunately, a dangerous myth has emerged over the last decade that productivity and wage growth are decoupled.

As consumers continue to buy more goods online, logistics facilities will face greater demand to deliver goods across the country in a timely manner. Policymakers should promote robotic adoption and innovation to improve labor productivity, worker safety, delivery times, and supply chain resiliency.

A robot tax is a misguided policy that would inhibit productivity growth that could otherwise make U.S. companies more competitive, create higher-paying jobs, and improve quality of life for all Americans.