PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Di Giacomo, Giuseppe
AU  - Lerch, Benjamin
TI  - Automation and Human Capital Adjustment
AID  - 10.3368/jhr.1222-12684R1
DP  - 2023 Dec 11
TA  - Journal of Human Resources
PG  - 1222-12684R1
4099  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2023/12/01/jhr.1222-12684R1.short
4100  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2023/12/01/jhr.1222-12684R1.full
AB  - This paper analyzes the link between automation and education by investigating the impact of the introduction of industrial robots on college enrollment in the US. We exploit exogenous variation in the adoption of robots across US local labor markets and show that for every additional robot adopted four individuals enroll in college. This result is driven by rising enrollment rates in local community colleges. We also observe a shift in graduations towards more applied fields. Finally, we show that the increase in college enrollment is primarily due to reduced opportunity costs, rather than an increase in the college wage premium.