The nexus between industrial robot and employment in China: The effects of technology substitution and technology creation

Abstract

The widespread application of industrial robots has raised our concerns about employment. Based on the data of Chinese micro-enterprises from 2000 to 2019, we use staggered and continuous DID method to measure the impact of industrial robots on the employment in the enterprise level in China. The result of the analysis shows that, under the combined effects of technology substitution and creation, the use of industrial robots has a significant positive impact on the employment of Chinese enterprises. The substitution effect is mainly in medium skilled labor, while the creation effect happens in high skilled and machine auxiliary positions. The analysis of heterogeneity of industry penetration rate of robot shows that, the creation effect in high skill positions and the substitution effect in low and medium skill positions mostly happen in high penetration rate industries, while the substitution effect in high skill positions and the creation effect in low and medium skill positions mostly happen in low and medium penetration rate industries. This result reveals the internal mechanism of the adjustment of employment structure caused by new technology. Based on this, the relevant suggestions are put forward from unemployment security system, corporate social responsibility, training of technical personnel, etc.