Beliefs about Bots: How Employers Plan for AI in White-Collar Work

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Brüll, Eduard, Mäurer, Samuel, Rostam-Afschar, Davud
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Brüll, Eduard
Mäurer, Samuel
Rostam-Afschar, Davud
author_facet Brüll, Eduard
Mäurer, Samuel
Rostam-Afschar, Davud
contents We provide experimental evidence on how employers adjust expectations to automation risk in high-skill, white-collar work. Using a randomized information intervention among tax advisors in Germany, we show that firms systematically underestimate automatability. Information provision raises risk perceptions, especially for routine-intensive roles. Yet, it leaves short-run hiring plans unchanged. Instead, updated beliefs increase productivity and financial expectations with minor wage adjustments, implying within-firm inequality like limited rent-sharing. Employers also anticipate new tasks in legal tech, compliance, and AI interaction, and report higher training and adoption intentions.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_21959
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Beliefs about Bots: How Employers Plan for AI in White-Collar Work
Brüll, Eduard
Mäurer, Samuel
Rostam-Afschar, Davud
General Economics
Economics
We provide experimental evidence on how employers adjust expectations to automation risk in high-skill, white-collar work. Using a randomized information intervention among tax advisors in Germany, we show that firms systematically underestimate automatability. Information provision raises risk perceptions, especially for routine-intensive roles. Yet, it leaves short-run hiring plans unchanged. Instead, updated beliefs increase productivity and financial expectations with minor wage adjustments, implying within-firm inequality like limited rent-sharing. Employers also anticipate new tasks in legal tech, compliance, and AI interaction, and report higher training and adoption intentions.
title Beliefs about Bots: How Employers Plan for AI in White-Collar Work
topic General Economics
Economics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.21959