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Unsägliche Industriepolitik und ein übergriffiger StaatReint GroppThe Pioneer, 1. März 2025
We use establishment-level data from the US Census Bureau's Annual Survey of Manufactures to study the characteristics and geographic locations of investments in robots. We find that the distribution of robots is highly skewed across locations. Some locations, which we call Robot Hubs, have far more robots than one would expect even after accounting for industry and manufacturing employment. We characterize these Robot Hubs along several industry, demographic, and institutional dimensions. The presences of robot integrators, which specialize in helping manufacturers install robots, and of higher levels of union membership are positively correlated with being a Robot Hub.
In most countries, childbirth has a negative impact on the labour market outcomes of mothers, especially for those with lower socioeconomic status. This column presents findings from a field experiment in Germany demonstrating that access to universal early childcare increases full-time employment and household income of mothers with lower socioeconomic status. To improve the labour market outcomes of these mothers, policymakers must provide easier access to early childcare and expand early childcare slots.