Recently, the paper Does Digitalization Widen Labor Income Inequality? co-authored by Huang Jilei from the School of Economics, Shandong University, Professor Sun Yi from the School of Economics and Management, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Professor Wang Jian from the School of Economics and Management, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Professor Yang Liyan from the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, has been published online in International Economic Review, a top international economics journal.

This study incorporates new digital technologies such as automation and artificial intelligence into a task-based economic growth model. It systematically characterizes the dynamic impacts of digitalization on workers’ occupational choices and labor income through both the demand and supply sides of the labor market. The paper reveals a novel theoretical mechanism through which digitalization shapes labor income inequality and explains why the new technological revolution in the 21st century does not necessarily widen income gaps. The findings deepen the theoretical understanding of the relationship between digitalization and income inequality, and provide important policy implications for balancing labor income distribution amid the development of China’s digital economy.

Huang Jilei holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Glasgow, UK. His research works have been published in authoritative international academic journals including International Economic Review, Technovation, and International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research. He presides over one project funded by the Ministry of Education of China and one International Cooperation Seed Fund Project of Shandong University, and participates in multiple major national and provincial research projects. He has received numerous honors, including Outstanding Teacher of the School of Economics (Shandong University), the Third Prize in the Shandong Provincial Young Teacher Teaching Competition, and the Special Prize of the 10th Shandong Provincial Higher Education Teaching Achievement Award.