Brown Bag Seminar: Pauline Leveneur

Brown Bag seminars are organized by the doctoral association at the Department of Economics. The seminar is a space where doctoral students can present their ideas at an early stage of the research process.

Title: Technological Change and Workers’ Health

(joint work with Pauline Lesterquy)

Abstract: Technological progress has sizeable consequences on employment and has reshaped the contents of jobs. A large literature has documented substantial effects of biased technological progress on workers’ labour market outcomes, with heterogeneity depending on their skills and occupations. Yet, its overall effect on workers’ well-being has received limited attention. This project aims to fill this gap, by investigating the consequences of technology adoption in the firm on workers' health, encompassing both physical and mental dimensions. The expected impact is ambiguous: while workers may benefit from improved working conditions and lower workplace injury rates, they may also bear the negative effects of displacement risk and increased work intensity. Combining French individual healthcare data with firm-level data from customs and administrative sources, we identify workers exposed to firm-level technological change. We first describe the characteristics of firms initiating technological shifts. We then provide preliminary insights into their impact on workers’ health outcomes. We document that technological change is associated with displacement risk and lower earnings and that workers increase their consumption of antidepressants and anxiolytics following the adoption of new technologies in the firm.