processes? The present paper addresses this question in a new macroeconomic model of automation where competitive firms perform … and substitute for labor in the performance of tasks. Automation is labor-augmenting in the reduced-form aggregate … though the aggregate production function is Cobb-Douglas. Population aging due to a higher longevity reduces automation in …

We investigate the impact of product market competition on firms’ automation investments. We use a rich combination of … competition in export markets tend to reduce investments in automation technologies. These average negative effects are driven by … the least productive firms, while the most efficient exporters in industries that are more prone to automation tend to …

We develop an assignment model of automation. Each of a continuum of tasks of variable complexity is assigned to either … capital or one of a continuum of labor skills. We characterize conditions for interior automation, whereby tasks of … intermediate complexity are assigned to capital. Interior automation arises when the most skilled workers have a comparative …