CORA 2026 - Conference on Robots and Automation
Kiel, September 28 & 29, 2026
The fifth conference on the economic impact of robots and automation (CORA) will take place on September 28th and 29th 2026 at ZBW Leibniz Information Centre for Economics in cooperation with University Hamburg.
By now, CORA has been established as a widely recognized platform for all economists working in the rapidly growing fields of robots, automation, and artificial intelligence (AI). In particular, the conference provides a forum for discussion between data users and the main data provider in this field, the International Federation of Robotics (IFR).
IFR Best Paper Award:
The International Federation of Robotics will sponsor a prize (free access to the World Robotics 2026 Premium Edition) for the best paper presented at the conference.
The participation fee is € 200 and includes workshop materials, coffee breaks, refreshments during the workshop, and a conference dinner. Non-presenting attendees are subject to the same participation fee as presenting authors. Registration will be possible until late August.
Members of the Selection Committee are Ana Abeliansky (WU and OeNB, Vienna), Anne Jurkat (IFR), Katja Mann (Copenhagen Business School), Christopher Müller (IFR, Frankfurt), Klaus Prettner (WU Vienna), Anna Salomons (Tilburg University and Utrecht University School of Economics), Simone Vannuccini (University Côte d'Azur), and Konstantin Wacker (University of Groningen and Webster Vienna Private University).
Preliminary Program
Monday, 28 September 2026
9:00 - 9:15 am
Welcome Address
Marianne Saam
ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics and University of Hamburg, Germany
9:15 - 9:30 am
Opening Remarks
Anne Jurkat
International Federation of Robotics (IFR)
09:30 – 11:00 am
Parallel Sessions
SESSION 1: Skills and Labor Market | SESSION 2: Diffusion and Productivity |
Automation and the Changing Composition of Skill Demand | The Habitat Constraint: Why the Same Robot Pays Off in One Plant and Fails in Another |
The Labor Market Effects of AI Automation and Augmentation | Exploring the Intersection of Automation and Environment: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis |
Employment and Skill Effects of Introduction of Robots | The Diffusion of Artificial Intelligence Across Firms: Evidence from Europe |
11:00 – 11:30 am
Coffee Break
11:30 am – 1:00 pm
Parallel Sessions
SESSION 3: International Economics and Geography | SESSION 4: Employment and Taxes |
Where Production Meets Automation: Robots and the International Geography of Production | Automation and Involuntary Unemployment |
The Geography of Automation | AI Adoption and Insider–Outsider Adjustment in the Labor Market |
Automation and Structural Change in an Open Economy | Should robots pay for our pensions? |
1:00 – 2:00 pm
Lunch Break
2:00 – 3:30 pm
Parallel Sessions
SESSION 5: Safety | SESSION 6: Competition and Innovation |
When Machines Take the Hazards: Automation and Job Safety | The Role of Open-Weight Strategy in the AI Model Market: Firm Outcomes and Competitive Implications |
Technology at Work, Safety at Stake? | Beliefs about Bots: How Employers Plan for AI in White-Collar Work |
Information Interventions and Humanoid Robot Adoption: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment | Labour Market Power and Automation |
3:30 – 4:00 pm
Coffee Break
4:00 – 5:30 pm
Keynote
Alessandra Bonfiglioli
University of Bergamo, Italy
7:00 pm
Conference Dinner incl. presentation of the Best Paper Award
Tuesday, 29 September 2026
09:00 – 10:30 am
Parallel Sessions
SESSION 7: Employment and Training | SESSION 8: International Economics and Trade |
Robots and Training: Evidence from German Plants | The Role of Robot Adoption in Shaping Export and Import Activities: the case of Sweden |
| Upstream Responses to Downstream Automation by Multinationals |
Robots and Jobs Revisited: A Bit-Exact Replication, Shift-Share Anatomy, and Capital-Stock Extension of Acemoglu and Restrepo (2020) | Innovation Capacity, Robot Adoption, and AI Adoption as Parallel Transmission Channels to Productivity: Cross-National Evidence |
10:30 – 11:00 am
Coffee Break
11:00 am – 12:30 pm
Keynote
Florian Butollo
Goethe University of Frankfurt, Germany
12:30 – 13:30 pm
Lunch Break
1:30 – 2:30 pm
RUG-UHH Session: Substitution Elasticities and Technology Effects in Macroeconomics
Introduction
Marianne Saam
ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics and University of Hamburg, Germany
The Direction of Technical Change
Zsófia Bárány
Central European University, Vienna
2:30 – 3:00 pm
Coffee Break
3:00 – 4:30 pm
RUG-UHH Session: Substitution Elasticities and Technology Effects in Macroeconomics
Cross-Country Heterogeneity in the Capital-Labor Substitution Elasticity
Dominika Ehrenbergerova
Czech National Bank, Czech Republic
Demographic Transition, Aggregate Productivity Growth Slowdown, and Structural Change
Vahagn Jerbashian
University of Barcelona, Spain
4:30 – 4:45 pm
Closing
Marianne Saam
ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics and University of Hamburg, Germany
Registration:
Hotel accommodation:
https://convention-kiel.de/cora-konferenz-zbw-2026
Please note that the link for the hotel offer is only valid until 30 August.
Here are some important points to note:
- The hotel requires your credit card details to confirm the booking.
After you have clicked the ‘Book and pay’ button (“Zahlungspflichtig buchen”) a form should open where you can enter all the necessary details. - Please open the link using Mozilla Firefox. We have noticed that complications can arise when using Microsoft Edge, amongst other browsers.
Conference organization
Marianne Saam, ZBW Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (pb-c@zbw-online.eu)
