Technological Unemployment: An approximation to the Latin American Case

Abstract

Recent advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI), robotics, control systems, software and related technologies have revived the debate on the influence that technology has on labor markets. So far, the focus of the literature has been on advanced economies. This document aims to analyze the following variables: domestic spending in science and technology, GDP per capita, nominal minimum wage, domestic spending in education and their impact on unemployment rate in seven Latin American countries from 1996 to 2011. Panel data was used to measure the relation of these variables with unemployment rates in the region. The results allowed us to conclude that investment in Science and Technology in the region has not reached levels that potentially reduce employment; on the contrary, innovation is regarded as a source of labor productivity gains. The broader implications of technology and automation are yet to be seen, however, both firms and the public sector in the region must prepare for massive technological unemployement, as predicted by recent models.

Keywords

• technological innovation
• unemployment
• science
• technology investments