Automation, labor markets and firm competitiveness

The rapid development of automation technologies, from software and robotics to artificial intelligence, provides companies with groundbreaking tools to strengthen their competitiveness. These technologies can lead to efficiency gains, business model transformation, and increased profitability in both Swedish firms and the broader economy. At the same time, automation reshapes the labor market by influencing skill demands, occupational structures, and wage developments.

In addition to labor market effects, the rise of especially generative AI raises important questions about how new technologies affect competition between firms and industries. AI can both reinforce the market position of established actors and create opportunities for new entrants, depending on how the technology is implemented and diffused.

The aim of this project is therefore to examine how automation and AI influence the labor market, competition dynamics, and firms’ competitiveness in Sweden.