Impacts of Industrial Robotics: Potential Effects on Labor and Costs Within the Metalworking Industries

Author

Steven M. MILLER, Singapore Management UniversityFollow

Publication Type

Book

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

3-1989

Abstract

According to leading expert opinion, industrial robots are among the most important innovations of recent decades. Yet there is very considerable uncertainty (and disagreement) as to the rate at which the use of robots will spread and what their effects on employment, costs, and market structure will be. As stressed in 1983 by Congress’s Office of Technology Assessment: “A central question for an analysis of the social and economic impacts of programmable automation is whether programmable automation is likely to spread especially rapidly among firms and industries, and why.” The author analyzes the job displacement effects of industrial robots, as well as their potential impacts on production costs. Combining engineering and economic data, he concludes that robot use will continue to be concentrated within large firms for the next several years, displacement impacts will be concentrated within particular geographic locations and industries, and that very few workers will actually lose their employment as a direct result of robot use. He also analyzes the effects of flexible manufacturing systems on production costs.

Keywords

Metal-work industries, Automation, Economic aspects, Effect of technological innovations, Industrial robots, Job displacement

Discipline

Artificial Intelligence and Robotics | Robotics | Technology and Innovation

Research Areas

Information Systems and Management

First Page

1

Last Page

255

ISBN

9780299105044

Publisher

University of Wisconsin Press

City or Country

Madison, WI

Citation

MILLER, Steven M.. Impacts of Industrial Robotics: Potential Effects on Labor and Costs Within the Metalworking Industries. (1989). 1-255.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sis_research/3193

Copyright Owner and License

Authors

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1184/R1/27625668.v1