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About

Guy Michaels is a prominent labor and technology economist whose research focuses on the economic impacts of automation, technological change, and employment dynamics. He is best known for his groundbreaking work on industrial robotics, most notably the widely influential paper "Robots at Work" (co-authored with Georg Graetz), which has accumulated over 1,800 citations since its 2018 publication — a remarkable testament to its field-defining impact. Using novel panel data spanning seventeen countries from 1993 to 2007, Michaels and Graetz were among the first researchers to rigorously quantify how modern industrial robots affect productivity and labor markets, employing innovative instrumental variable approaches to establish causal relationships. Their findings revealed that while robots substantially boosted productivity and economic growth, their effects on employment remained complex and nuanced. Michaels has also contributed meaningfully to understanding "jobless recoveries," examining how routine-task automation displaces middle-skill workers during recessions, making re-employment more difficult. His body of work has become essential reading for economists, policymakers, and students grappling with the consequences of automation in an increasingly technology-driven global economy.