Optimal Automation and Profit Redistribution

Speaker：Li Wenjian, Hundred Talents Program Researcher, Zhejiang University

Host：Liu Guanchun, Professor, Lingnan College

Time and Date：08:30, May 25, 2026 (Monday)

Venue：Wang Dao Han Conference Room (101), Lingnan Hall

Language：Chinese

Abstract：

Under the profit maximization framework of "task-talent-robot" matching, this paper jointly designs automation regulation, robot taxation, and income tax policies. The study finds that automation regulation and robot taxes targeting the "substitution effect" and "productivity effect" respectively are usually necessary. However, in the absence of "ability-complexity" complementarity, automation regulation becomes meaningless. In contrast, the robot tax remains effective in compressing corporate rents.

Profile:

Li Wenjian is a Hundred Talents Program Researcher and doctoral supervisor at Zhejiang University. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Peking University. His research fields are public economics and macroeconomic public finance, focusing on policy analysis and institutional design based on optimal taxation and tax incidence theories. His research has been published in journals such as the American Economic Review, Journal of Public Economics, Economic Research Journal, Management World, and China Economic Quarterly. He has presided over two National Natural Science Foundation of China projects.