Page - (000086) - in Disrupted Development and the Future of Inequality in the Age of Automation

79 Abstract Developing countries face several policy challenges unleashed by automation. Given the pace of technological change, upskilling strategies are likely not to be a panacea. Safety nets and wage subsidies may be desirable, but the question remains how to finance them (with- out making labor more costly and thus exacerbating a trend toward replacement). Investing in labor-heavy sectors such as infrastructure construction, social, education or healthcare provision may be a way for developing countries to manage disruptive impacts of automation though these would imply major public investments and do not in them- selves substitute for a long-run strategy for economic development. Keywords Public policy · Global universal basic income · Upskilling · Globalization · Policy space · Coping or containment 6.1 politics And technology The discussion thus far points toward the potential for major shifts in employment due to automation. This process will likely have socio- political consequences. Macroeconomic and labor market dynamics determine the quality, quantity, and distribution of citizens’ employ- ment opportunities and thus of their wages, living standards, and class status. Such socioeconomic characteristics in turn have a profound CHAPTER 6 Automation, Politics, and Public Policy © The Author(s) 2020 L. Schlogl and A. Sumner, Disrupted Development and the Future of Inequality in the Age of Automation, Rethinking International Development series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30131-6_6