Lecture | Lunch Research Seminar
Saving His Job, Not Hers: Selective Protection in Automation-Driven Job Loss
- Date
- Tuesday 14 October 2025
- Time
- Address
-
Lipsius
Cleveringaplaats 1
2311 BD Leiden - Room
- 2.24
Registration
All are welcome, however please register in advance at l-peg@hum.leidenuniv.nl to receive a copy of the paper and lunch.
Abstract
Recent advances in automation have raised concerns about job displacement and increased interest in social protection policies. However, public support for such measures is not uniformly distributed across cases of job loss. This study argues that gender norms, rather than economic vulnerability alone, explain support for social protection in response to automation-driven layoffs. Using a survey experiment in South Korea, we show that automation-driven job loss increases support for an ex-ante protective measure (e.g., Automation Tax) only when male workers are affected. This selective protection reflects the male-breadwinner model, which views male labor as more essential to household income and male job loss as more socially disruptive. The disparity in social policy preferences by laid-off’s gender profile is pronounced among individuals who hold sexist attitudes. Our findings reveal how gendered beliefs about labor value shape social protection preferences, highlighting identity-based biases in responses to economic change.
(Co-authored with Soohyun Cho, Bowdoin College)