The “losers of digitalization”: A Reservoir of Votes for the Far-Right?
Abstract
While there is significant debate among labor economists on the extent to which jobs would be replaced by automation, most researchers agree that future employment growth will be unevenly distributed. This is because job growth would be greatest in jobs least threatened by automation, and vice versa. The jobs with stronger job growth and better economic prospects tend to be concentrated at both ends of the earnings and education distribution, while midskilled routine jobs are in strong decline. Consequently, parts of the mid-skilled workforce face poorer economic prospects in times of automation and are confronted with a potential decline in social status. As radical right parties increasingly appeal to voters who are anxious about their social status, could the threat of being replaced by automation translate to a higher likelihood of voting for these parties? Or could economic insecurity drive voters to abstain from voting altogether?