The Impact of Automation and Robotization on Income Distribution in Post-Industrial Countries: Who Are the Winners and What Steps Should Society Take?

Abstract

In this thesis, I study the effects of automation and robotization on income distribution and their effects on the society from a literary review point of view. The main effects of automation and robotization seem to be the added output and production, but at the cost of a more polarized income distribution towards the haves and have-nots. This tectonic shift in the work landscape might be something similar to the revolutions before, but it seems to be happening at a faster rate than the previous ones and this time effecting people from more varied backgrounds, even the top echelons of the income distribution seem to be getting hit. The most often proposed solutions to these problems are the implementation of strong taxation policies and the adoption of some form of Universal Basic Income (UBI).