Lead Article in Inaugural Volume of Health Affairs Review: Robots and Labor in the Service Sector
Research on robots and labor in nursing homes, coauthored by Yong Suk Lee, published as the lead article of the inaugural volume of Health Affairs Review.
"Robots and Labor in the Service Sector: Evidence from Nursing Homes," coauthored by Karen Eggleston, Toshiaki Iizuka, Yong Suk Lee, and Ellie Xi, has been published as the lead article of the inaugural volume of Health Affairs Review (2026, 1(1): 1-27).
Using regional variation in robot subsidies in Japan as an instrumental variable, the study finds that robot adoption in nursing homes reduces staffing retention difficulties and increases employment of care workers and nurses under flexible contracts, with care worker effort reallocated toward "human touch" tasks that support quality care.
The paper is based on NBER Working Paper 28322.