Abstract
This paper examines the impact of robotization on the short-term correlation between employment and output. Utilizing panel data from 35 OECD countries spanning 1996-2020, we estimate the Okun’s Law relationship. Our empirical evidence, backed up by a battery of robustness tests, consistently shows that automation contributes to job-preserving recessions by mitigating increases in unemployment during economic contractions, questioning the popular views of the detrimental impact of automation on employment. Additionally, we do not find support for the notion that automation causes jobless recoveries.