Robots and Polarization of Labor Markets. Are CEE Countries different?

The impact of technological progress on labor markets has received a great amount of scrutiny. Labor market polarization is claimed to be one of the more prominent consequences of the recent wave of technological advancement – ​​the digital revolution. However, this claim is not uncontroversial. Questions arise on the scale of polarization and the universality of this effect across countries. This paper aims to provide insight into this phenomenon in the relatively under-researched EU-CEE countries. Our study, which focuses on the manufacturing sector in EU-CEE countries, shows that increasing robot density is related to shrinking employment in routine, middle-skilled occupations. While we report a positive effect of robot density on employment in lower routine, high-skill occupations, the impact on low-skill occupations is insignificant. Hence, we fail to provide strong evidence in favor of the direct impact of robot density on labor market polarization.