Publications
Publications
- 2023
- HBS Working Paper Series
Local Shocks and Internal Migration: The Disparate Effects of Robots and Chinese Imports in the U.S.
By: Marius Faber, Andres Sarto and Marco Tabellini
Abstract
Do local labor markets adjust to economic shocks through migration? In this paper, we study this question by focusing on two of the most important shocks that hit U.S. manufacturing since the 1990s: Chinese import competition and the introduction of industrial robots. We find that, even though both shocks drastically reduced manufacturing employment, only robots led to a sizable decline in population. We provide evidence that negative employment spillovers outside manufacturing, caused by robots but not by Chinese imports, can explain the different migration responses.
Keywords
Citation
Faber, Marius, Andres Sarto, and Marco Tabellini. "Local Shocks and Internal Migration: The Disparate Effects of Robots and Chinese Imports in the U.S." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 20-071, December 2019. (Revised February 2023. Also appears in HBS Working Knowledge. Longer NBER working paper version here. Revise and resubmit at the European Economic Review.)