Abstract
This paper analyzes the link between automation and education by investigating the impact of the introduction of industrial robots on college enrollment in the US. We exploit exogenous variation in the adoption of robots across US local labor markets between 1993 and 2007 and show that for every additional robot adopted four individuals enroll in college. This result is driven by rising enrollment rates in local community colleges. We also observe a shift in graduations towards more applied fields, such as computer science and engineering. Using a simple theoretical framework, we illustrate how advances in automation increase the share of the population that enrolls in college as a result of lower opportunity costs of schooling. Hence, workers invest in additional human capital as a form of self-insurance against the employment risks of automation, rather than due to increases in the college wage premium.
Keywords: industrial robots, labor demand, human capital, college enrollment.
JEL Codes: I23, J23, J24.
Featured in Lavoce.info, LSE Business Review, Ă–konomenstimme.org, WIP: American Sociological Association.