This paper studies how minimum wage policy affects firms’ adoption of automation technologies. Using both state-level measures of robot exposure and novel plant-level data on industrial robot imports linked to U.S. Census microdata from 1992-2021, we show that increases in minimum wages raise the likelihood of robot adoption in manufacturing. Our preferred identification exploits discontinuities at state borders, comparing otherwise similar firms exposed to different wage floors. Across specifications, a 10 percent increase in the minimum wage increases robot adoption by roughly 8 percent relative to the mean.
That is from Erik Brynjolfsson, et.al., including Andrew Wang. Via the excellent Kevin Lewis.
By the way, a photo from our textbook Modern Principles of Economics:
The post Minimum wage hikes and robots appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
By Kristin Marting. On 16 March 2026, TORCHES will continue with a conversation with critically…
Team USA is 2-0 in the preliminary round, besting Latvia 5-1 and Denmark 6-3. They…
Crypto asset manager Grayscale filed for regulatory approval to convert its trust tracking the token…
Bill Evans was a boundary-breaking US pianist who contended with multiple personal tragedies, and a…
by TeachThought Curricula Curricula Format If you’d like to purchase printable reading response cards to…
Photo: Mike Coppola/Getty Images Getting married on Valentine’s Day is just good strat. You’re never…