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Richard B. Freeman

Harvard University and NBER, USA, IZA, Germany, and LSE, UK

It is important to take academic research of the rising trend of inequality from measurement and study of causes to suggesting policy solutions. I congratulate the IZA World of Labor for creating a vehicle for this bridge

IZA World of Labor role

Author, Topic spokesperson

Current position

Ascherman Chair in Economics at Harvard University and Co-Director of the Labor and Work Life Forum at the Harvard Law School

Research interest

Labor economics, economics of science and technology, China

Website

http://bit.ly/Freeman_Harvardpage

Qualifications

PhD, Harvard University, 1969

Selected publications

  • “Supply and salary adjustments to the changing science manpower market: Physics, 1948–1973.” American Economic Review 65:1 (1975): 27–39.

  • “Are your wages set in Beijing?” Journal of Economic Perspectives 9:3 (1995): 15–32.

  • What Workers Want. Ithaca, NY: ILR Press for Russell Sage Foundation, 2006 (with J. Rogers).

  • America Works. New York: Russell Sage and Cornell, 2007.The Citizen's Share. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2013.

article(s)

  • Who owns the robots rules the world

    Workers can benefit from technology that substitutes robots or other machines for their work by owning part of the capital that replaces them

    Richard B. Freeman, May 2015
    Robots, that is any sort of machinery from computers to artificial intelligence programs that provides a good substitute for work currently performed by humans, can increasingly replace workers, even highly skilled professionals, and thus reduce opportunities for good jobs and pay. But, with appropriate policies, the higher productivity due to robots can improve worker well-being by raising incomes and creating greater leisure for workers. Consider the way Google reduces the need for reference librarians and research assistants, or the way massive open online courses reduce the need for professors and lecturers. How these new technologies affect worker well-being and inequality depends on who owns them.
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