15 January 2016: A policy brief from the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) cautions that the large-scale replacement of jobs by robots may cause substantial losses to governments’ fiscal revenue, which could challenge their ability to fund social protection, especially at a time when more people may require such schemes.
The brief is titled ‘Harnessing Emerging Technological Breakthroughs for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.’ It stresses the need for a strengthened and revitalized global partnership, as called for in Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 17 (Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development), along with policies to translate innovation into investment and safeguard universal benefits from productivity growth, among other emerging needs.
The publication explains that: expanding the digital revolution into production could improve welfare and productivity; robotization in developed countries erodes developing countries’ traditional labor-cost advantages; and robotization in developing economies reduces the potential of manufacturing to absorb surplus rural labor. It notes that this absorption used to be the basis for industrialization strategies.
The authors propose several solutions, including: eliminating tax avoidance and tapping new sources, such as financial transactions and carbon emissions taxes; introducing new higher tax brackets for very high incomes, to mirror developments in income distribution; taxing property, such as by placing levies on land and real estate; encouraging effective innovation policies and greater capital investment to help capture benefits from the digitization of production; creating a basic income guarantee or similar ways of providing social protection floors; taking more decisive action to strengthen workers’ rights; providing extended social protection; nurturing an innovation-friendly environment in sectors (like health, education and small-scale agriculture) that matter most to the most vulnerable groups; and promoting innovation undertaken by these groups themselves.
The brief also underlines that achieving the SDGs will require leveraging innovations in technology for: transforming economies, tackling vulnerability and building resilience (as called for in SDG 9 (Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation)); attaining economic growth and decent work (as called for in SDG 8 (Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all)); and reducing inequality (as called for in SDG 10 (Reduce inequality within and among countries)). [Publication: Harnessing Emerging Technological Breakthroughs for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development]