Disrupted Development And The Future Of Inequality In The Age Of Automation (rethinking International Development Series)

This open access book examines the future of inequality, work and wages in the age of automation with a focus on developing countries. The authors argue that the rise of a global ‘robot reserve army’ has profound effects on labor markets and economic development, but, rather than causing mass unemployment, new technologies are more likely to lead to stagnant wages and premature deindustrialization. The book illuminates the debate on the impact of automation upon economic development, in particular issues of poverty, inequality and work. It highlights public policy responses and strategies–ranging from containment to coping mechanisms—to confront the effects of automation. https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/26660 Acknowledgements......Page 6 Contents......Page 7 List of Figures......Page 9 List of Tables......Page 10 Abstract......Page 11 1.1 Introduction......Page 12 1.2 The Contribution and Structure of This Book......Page 13 References......Page 14 Part I The Contemporary Context for Economic Development in the Developing World......Page 18 2.1 Three Schools of Economic Development Theory......Page 19 2.2 Economic Development with Structural Transformation: Kaldor Revisited......Page 22 2.3 Economic Development with Structural Transformation: Lewis Revisited......Page 24 References......Page 26 3.1 A Sketch of Contemporary Economic Development and Structural Transformation......Page 29 3.2 The Characteristics of Contemporary Economic Development......Page 37 References......Page 40 Part II The Future of Economic Development, Work and Wages in the Developing World......Page 42 4.1 Contemporary Technological Trends......Page 43 4.2 Automation: Definitions and Determinants......Page 45 4.3 Theoretical Perspectives on Automation......Page 48 References......Page 51 5.1 Characteristics of Developing Countries......Page 56 5.2 Disrupted Development? The Role of Technological Change in Long-Run Economic Development......Page 57 5.3 The Fourth Industrial Reserve Army......Page 64 5.4 Existing Empirical Forecasts of the Employment Effects of Automation......Page 66 5.5 Empirical Patterns of Automatability and Economic Development......Page 71 References......Page 79 6.1 Politics and Technology......Page 84 6.2 Characterizing Public Policy Responses......Page 85 References......Page 87 Abstract......Page 89 References......Page 93 Index......Page 103 "A piece of cutting-edge scholarship, this book examines the relationship between robotization and deindustrialization by looking at the global dynamics of job displacement and its likely effect on economic development. Schlogl and Sumner argue convincingly that developing countries face a growing informal, precarious service sector in the age of automation." --Ray Kiely, Professor of International Politics, Queen Mary University of London, UK This open access book examines the future of inequality, work and wages in the age of automation with a focus on developing countries. The authors argue that the rise of a global 'robot reserve army' has profound effects on labor markets and economic development, but, rather than causing mass unemployment, new technologies are more likely to lead to stagnant wages and premature deindustrialization. The book illuminates the debate on the impact of automation upon economic development, in particular issues of poverty, inequality and work. It highlights public policy responses and strategies-ranging from containment to coping mechanisms--to confront the effects of automation. Lukas Schlogl is a political scientist in the Department of Political Science, University of Vienna, Austria. Andy Sumner is Professor of International Development in the Department of International Development at King's College London, UK