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PublicationArticle (with peer review)

Artificial Intelligence and Worker Stress Evidence from Germany

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Abstract

We use individual survey data providing detailed information on stress, technology adoption, and work, worker, and employer characteristics, in combination with recent measures of AI and robot exposure, to investigate how new technologies affect worker stress. We find a persistent negative relationship, suggesting that AI and robots could reduce the stress level of workers in Germany. We furthermore provide evidence on potential mechanisms to explain our findings. Overall, the paper contributes to the economic literature by providing suggestive evidence of modern technologies changing the way we perform our work in a way that reduces stress and work pressure.

Koch, M., & Lodefalk, M. (2025). Artificial Intelligence and Worker Stress: Evidence from Germany Digital Society, 4(1), 5

Details

Author
Koch, M., & Lodefalk, M.
Publication year
2025
Published in

Digital Society, 4(1), 5

Related

  • Associate Professor

    Magnus Lodefalk

    magnus.lodefalk@oru.se

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Working paper

Working Paper No. 380. Artificial Intelligence, hiring and employment: Job postings evidence from Sweden.

Engberg, E., Hellsten, M., Javed, F., Lodefalk, M., Sabolová, R., Schroeder, S.
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Publication year

2024

Published in

Ratio Working Paper Series.

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on hiring and employment, using the universe of job postings published by the Swedish Public Employment Service from 2014-2022 and universal register data for Sweden. We construct a detailed measure of AI exposure according to occupational content and find that establishments exposed to AI are more likely to hire AI workers. Survey data further indicate that AI exposure aligns with greater use of AI services. Importantly, rather than displacing non-AI workers, AI exposure is positively associated with increased hiring for both AI and non-AI roles. In the absence of substantial productivity gains that might account for this increase, we interpret the positive link between AI exposure and non-AI hiring as evidence that establishments are using AI to augment existing roles and expand task capabilities, rather than to replace non-AI workers.

Article (with peer review)

Stayin’ alive: Export credit guarantees and export survival

Lodefalk, M., Tang, A., & Yu, M.
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Publication year

2025

Published in

Applied Economics Letters

Abstract

We use survival analysis to analyse the impact of export credit guarantees on firms’ export duration using granular Swedish panel data at the firm-country and firm-country-product levels. The estimation results show that firms’ export survival substantially increases with guarantees, at both levels. The associations are particularly strong for smaller firms and contracts as well as in trade with riskier markets. The findings have implications for policies to promote long-run export growth.

Article (with peer review)

Artificial intelligence, tasks, skills and wages: Worker-level evidence from Germany

Engberg, E., Koch, M., Lodefalk, M., & Schroeder, S.
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Publication year

2025

Published in

Research Policy

Abstract

As a first step, the study documents novel evidence on changes in tasks and skills within occupations in Germany over the past two decades. It further identifies a distinct relationship between ex ante occupational work content and ex post exposure to artificial intelligence (AI) and automation through robots. Workers in occupations with high AI exposure perform different activities and face different skill requirements than workers in occupations primarily exposed to robots, suggesting that AI and robots substitute for different types of tasks and skills. The study also shows that changes in the task and skill content of occupations are related to their initial exposure to these technologies. Finally, using individual labour market biographies, the analysis investigates the relationship between AI exposure and wages. By examining the dynamic effects of AI exposure over time, the study finds positive associations with wages, with nuanced differences across occupational groups, thereby providing further insight into the substitutability and augmentability of AI.

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