Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/273130 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
GUT FME Working Paper Series A No. 4/2021 (66)
Publisher: 
Gdańsk University of Technology, Faculty of Management and Economics, Gdańsk
Abstract: 
This paper uses a sample of over 9.5 million workers from 22 European countries to study the intertwined effects of digital technology and cross-border production links on workers' wellbeing. We compare the social effects of technological change exhibited by three types of innovation: computerisation (software), automation (robots) and artificial intelligence (AI). To fully quantify work-related wellbeing, we propose a new methodology that corrects the information on remuneration by reference to such non-monetary factors as the work environment (physical and social), career development prospects, or work intensity. We show that workers' wellbeing depends on the type of technological exposure. Employees in occupations with high software or robots content face worse working conditions than those exposed to AI. The impact of digitalisation on working conditions depends on participation in global production. To demonstrate this, we estimate a set of augmented models for determination of working conditions, interacting technological factors with Global Value Chain participation. GVC intensification is accompanied by deteriorating working conditions - but only in occupations exposed to robots or software, not in AI-intensive jobs. In other words, we find that AI technologies differ from previous waves of technological progress - also in their impact on workers' wellbeing within global production structures.
Subjects: 
digital technologies
working conditions
GVC
Global Value Chains
artificial intelligence
AI
JEL: 
F1
F6
J8
O3
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by-nc-nd Logo
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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