Effects of Industry 4.0 on the Labor Markets of Iran and Japan

• Main Authors: Majid Ziaei Nafchi, Hana Mohelská
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2018-07-01
• Series: Economies
• Subjects: Industry 4.0; labor force; unemployment; Iran
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/2227-7099/6/3/39

Industry 4.0 is the essence of the fourth Industrial revolution and is happening right now in manufacturing by using cyber-physical systems (CPS) to reach high levels of automation. Industry 4.0 is especially beneficial in highly developed countries in terms of competitive advantage, but causes unemployment because of high levels of automation. The aim of this paper is to find out if the impact of adopting Industry 4.0 on the labor markets of Iran and Japan would be the same, and to make analysis to find out whether this change is possible for Iran and Japan with their current infrastructures, economy, and policies. With the present situation of Iran in science, technology, and economy, it will be years before Iran could, or better say should, implement Industry 4.0. Japan is able to adopt Industry 4.0 much earlier than Iran and with less challenges ahead; this does not mean that the Japanese labor market would not be affected by this change but it means that those effects would not cause as many difficulties as they would for Iran.