The Economics of Technological Change and Employment in the Digital Machine Age

Master’s Thesis from the year 2015 in the subject Economics - Other, grade: 1,0, University of Paderborn, language: English, abstract: Technology as a Matter of Economic Interest A timeliness object of discussion since the first noteworthy appearance of economic literature has always been the construct of technological unemployment. The fear of people being put out of work by some machines really took off during the industrial revolution in the late 18th century owed to the invention of the steam machine, which eventually lead to the automation of the weaving craft. The economic interest in the relationship between new technology and its social impact is mostly based on the idea of increased productivity. If we consider a production function containing an arbitrary number of input factors, then given a certain amount of output, profits will decrease, if any of those inputs is becoming more expensive. In the course of time before human and property rights were installed, this have been most often the factors land and labor. Labor insofar, as it depended massively on the ability of keeping people healthy and well-nourished and also on the expected life span which was certainly lower, centuries ago. The United Kingdom was affected first and severest by the invention of the steam-engine. Ulrike Herrmann (2013) explains the necessity of this invention on the scarcity of labor due to the wars and famines plaguing the Europe of that era. This disruptive general purpose technology is the first encounter of employees with massive technological unemployment and the almost obliteration of certain professions, i. e. weavers.