Artificial Intelligence, Wage Dynamics, and Inequality: Empirical Evidence from Chinese Listed Firms

IF 4.8 2区经济学 Q1 BUSINESS, FINANCE

International Review of Economics & Finance Pub Date : 2024-11-19 DOI:10.1016/j.iref.2024.103739

Yongqiu Wu , Zhiwei Lin , Qingcui Zhang , Wei Wang

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

The impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on employment has attracted widespread attention, but the literature has generally viewed AI as a continuation of automation, arguing that technology will result in wage polarization. However, existing literature overlooks the unique aspects of AI technology. This study proposes new theoretical mechanisms and AI measure method to estimate the impacts of AI on wage dynamics and inequality. Based on an empirical study of data from listed companies in China from 2014 to 2022, we find that AI applications raise wages through three mechanisms: productivity improvement, crowding out low-wage routine jobs, and creating high-wage creative and social jobs. While executive pay does not increase because of AI applications, the pay for regular employees increases through job restructuring. Ultimately, AI applications narrow wage inequality between senior managers and regular employees. This study provides a new quantitative evaluation method for assessing AI progress. It also reveals the unique mechanisms of AI on firms' wage distribution, which differs from that of traditional technologies. These findings deepen our understanding of the complex relationship between AI development and wage changes.

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人工智能、工资动态和不平等：来自中国上市公司的经验证据

人工智能（AI）对就业的影响已引起广泛关注，但文献普遍将人工智能视为自动化的延续，认为技术将导致工资两极分化。然而，现有文献忽视了人工智能技术的独特性。本研究提出了新的理论机制和人工智能测量方法，以估计人工智能对工资动态和不平等的影响。基于对 2014 年至 2022 年中国上市公司数据的实证研究，我们发现人工智能应用通过三种机制提高工资：提高生产率、挤出低工资的日常工作、创造高工资的创造性和社会性工作。虽然高管的薪酬不会因为人工智能的应用而增加，但普通员工的薪酬会通过工作结构调整而增加。最终，人工智能应用缩小了高级管理人员与普通员工之间的工资不平等。这项研究为评估人工智能的进展提供了一种新的量化评估方法。它还揭示了人工智能对企业工资分配的独特机制，这种机制不同于传统技术。这些发现加深了我们对人工智能发展与工资变化之间复杂关系的理解。

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来源期刊

International Review of Economics & Finance Multiple-

CiteScore

7.30

自引率

2.20%

发文量

253

期刊介绍： The International Review of Economics & Finance (IREF) is a scholarly journal devoted to the publication of high quality theoretical and empirical articles in all areas of international economics, macroeconomics and financial economics. Contributions that facilitate the communications between the real and the financial sectors of the economy are of particular interest.