Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies will automate many jobs, but the effect on employment is not obvious. Although technology has sharply reduced jobs in manufacturing in recent decades, for over a century before that, employment grew, even in industries experiencing rapid technological change. This paper presents a simple model of the change in demand that accurately predicts the rise and fall of employment in the textile, steel and automotive industries, and will be useful for exploring how AI is likely to affect jobs over the next 10 or 20 years.
Although the paradigmatic defendant in a patent infringement lawsuit is a vertically integrated manufacturer, modern supply chains now include many different businesses, each of which must contemplate the risk of patent infringement when entering into the contracts to form those chains. This paper provides some guidance on best practices for terms of indemnification agreements that address both efficient risk management and effective bargaining against a patent-plaintiff.
This paper offers several predictions about how Industry 4.0 – the coordinated use of robots, sensors, AI, and other digitally-enabled technologies in manufacturing – will affect which firms and occupations capture value in manufacturing. Using in-depth interviews with manufacturers that are part of the automotive value chain, the authors find that value migration within firms likely affects whether and how value migration occurs across firms.
Since the 1980s, US industries have become increasingly dominated by large firms across almost all sectors. Why? One possibility is that large firms have become dominant because antitrust authorities have allowed too many mergers and acquisitions. James Bessen explores another possibility: that leading firms have been better at harnessing information technology (IT) for competitive advantage, allowing them to grow faster.
This paper presents an in-depth quantitative analysis of the diffusion and impacts of the Universal Product Code (UPC). The authors find evidence of two-sided network effects in the diffusion process, and that employment and trademark registrations increase following UPC adoption by manufacturers or wholesalers. The findings suggest that barcodes, scanning, and related technologies helped stimulate variety-enhancing product innovation and encourage the growth of international retail supply chains.
Research Summary 2017-3 Since the 1980s, US industries have become increasingly dominated by large firms across almost all sectors. David Autor and coauthors find that the market share of the top four firms grew 4% in manufacturing and services industries on average with increases in other sectors ranging up to 15% in retail. Some worry […]
Research Summary 2017-2 Does Big Data give large companies an unfair competitive advantage? New machine learning technologies depend on access to large amounts of data. This means that large companies might be able to use their huge stores of data to provide better products and services than smaller rivals and startups. For example, Google might […]
Research Summary 2017-1 New artificial intelligence and robotic technologies are fueling fears that automation will cause widespread unemployment. Yet unemployment in the US is at its lowest level in 16 years. Some economists see this as evidence that recent technological change is not so great after all (Gordon). But there is another explanation that is supported […]