Has The Application of Artificial Intelligence Expanded the Internal Income Gap Within Enterprises?

Abstract

This study explores the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) technology application on the internal wage gap within enterprises and the moderating role of employee scale. Using panel data from Chinese A-share listed companies from 2011 to 2022 and an AI application level index constructed through text mining methods, this paper analyzes through a fixed effects model and finds that the application of AI technology significantly increases the wage gap between management and ordinary employees, especially in non-state-owned enterprises, non-manufacturing, and high-tech industries. However, the effect of this wage gap increase is relatively weaker in large enterprises, indicating that company size can mitigate the impact of AI technology to a certain extent. This finding contributes to a deeper understanding of how technological progress shapes the internal wage structure of enterprises and is significant for enterprises and governments to formulate fair wage policies, providing new strategies to promote internal wage equality within enterprises.