| After more than 60 years of evolution,the current generation of artificial intelligence,supported by technologies such as big data,cloud computing and the Internet and driven by socio-economic needs,has made continuous breakthroughs in cutting-edge innovations and continued expansion of application scenarios and fields,profoundly changing traditional economic growth models and human lifestyles.As a leading,strategic and disruptive force in the new round of industrial change,the innovation and application of AI technology has a good foundation and space for development in China,which is currently one of the world’s most important markets for industrial robots and has become an important highland for global R&D and innovation of intelligent technology.The tremendous transformative energy released by the application of artificial intelligence technology has continued to reshape China’s original economic structure and propel our economic growth to a higher quality development stage.From the experience of previous industrial technology revolutions,the breakthroughs and applications of emerging technologies have an extremely close and far-reaching impact on the labor market,and artificial intelligence technology,as a higher-order form of automation technology and information and communication technology,may affect the labor market to a higher degree and on a larger scale.The frontier literature has focused more on the impact of industrial robots,automation and AI technologies on intra-regional labor markets,but has not yet clarified the role of AI technology applications on the spatially balanced allocation of labor markets across regions.In particular,in the Chinese context,the effect of the application of intelligent technologies represented by industrial robots on the spatial allocation of labor force,the underlying mechanisms and the heterogeneous effects among different labor groups still need to be further studied in depth from theoretical and empirical perspectives.This paper systematically reviews and compares important literature on industrial robot applications and labor spatial allocation,constructs a cross-regional multisectoral general equilibrium model,and mathematically deduces the underlying mechanism of industrial robot applications affecting labor spatial allocation.This paper measures the spatial allocation of industrial robots and labor force at the urban level in China using a variety of micro-and macro-level data and multiple types of indicators,and analyzes the temporal trend characteristics,spatial distribution characteristics,and evolution of the corresponding data indicators.This paper empirically examines the effects of industrial robot applications on labor spatial allocation,analyzes how industrial robot applications affect labor spatial allocation through two important transmission mechanisms: employment effect and productivity effect,and further explores the heterogeneous effects of industrial robot applications on labor spatial allocation under different migration stickiness,employability and employment environment conditions.Finally,this paper provides policy recommendations for fully promoting the application of intelligent technologies such as industrial robots and facilitating the spatially balanced allocation of labor resources.The specific research contents and findings are as follows:First,this paper introduces industrial robot applications in the form of smart technologies into the production function of manufacturing sectors and constructs a multi-regional multi-sector general equilibrium model theory to examine the effects of industrial smart technology applications represented by industrial robots on the spatial allocation of labor.It is found that industrial robot applications affect the spatial allocation of labor,and the specific direction of the impact is subject to the substitution and complementary relationships between industrial robot applications and general types of technologies.When the relationship between industrial robot applications and general types of technologies is complementary,industrial robot applications will improve the spatial allocation of labor.When there is a substitution relationship between industrial robot applications and general types of technologies,industrial robot applications in other regions will improve the spatial allocation of local labor,i.e.,there is a spatial spillover effect of industrial robot applications between regions.The impact of inter-regional relative industrial robot application on inter-regional labor allocation is limited by the relative relationship between industrial robot application and general type of technology.When the relationship between industrial robot application and general type of technology is substitution,the improvement of inter-regional relative industrial robot application level contributes to the improvement of inter-regional labor allocation.The employment effect mechanism of the impact of industrial robot application on labor spatial allocation is bounded by the relative product relationship between regions.When the output is in a substitution relationship between regions,industrial robot application will improve the labor spatial allocation by increasing the employment level of regional enterprises and thus the labor spatial allocation.The effect of industrial robot application on total factor productivity of sectors and firms is constrained by the relative relationship between regional outputs.When the regional outputs are in a substitution relationship,industrial robot application will increase the total factor productivity of sectors and firms and thus increase the spatial allocation of labor.Second,this paper combines patent database,keyword database and industrial robot installation data to measure the level of industrial robot application at the city level in terms of both smart patents and industrial robot usage,and combines data from the National Monitoring Survey of Mobile Population Dynamics,population census data,1% population sampling survey data and population mobility measurement data to characterize labor mobility ratio,labor migration rate,population mobility We analyze the time trend,spatial distribution and evolution characteristics,overall correlation characteristics and spatial autocorrelation characteristics of industrial robot application and spatial configuration of labor force.The temporal trend characteristics of industrial robot applications show that China’s industrial robot applications show a fluctuating exponential upward trend from 2000 to 2020 in general,and have now ushered in a rapid growth phase despite the slow development in the first decade of the sample interval.The spatial distribution of industrial robot applications exhibits the characteristics of predominantly eastern coastal regions,and the evolution shows further aggregation to the eastern coastal regions and radiation to the central regions.The temporal trend characteristics of labor force spatial allocation show that the scale of cross-regional flow of labor force in China shows a growing trend and gradually transitions to a stable stage of flow scale in recent years,but there are still large differences in the spatial allocation of labor force with different characteristics,and the structural proportion still needs to be further rationalized.The spatial distribution of labor force is mainly concentrated in the eastern coastal and central major urban clusters,and the spatial evolution of labor force is further concentrated in the eastern coastal and central major urban clusters.Third,this paper examines the effect of industrial robots on the spatial allocation of labor force based on the panel data at the city level in China.The baseline regression results indicate that industrial robots increase the spatial allocation of labor in the Chinese context,and this result holds regardless of the inclusion of control variables and the standard error setting.The results of multidimensional robustness tests all verify the effect of industrial robot application on labor spatial allocation,i.e.,the core explanatory variables are replaced by industrial robot patents,artificial intelligence patents,and industrial intelligence technology index;the labor mobility ratio is replaced by labor mobility agglomeration and labor mobility density calculated based on data from the National Monitoring of Mobility Survey,and the labor mobility ratio is replaced by labor mobility density calculated based on data from the population census and 1% sample survey data to replace the explanatory variables;using the labor force migration rate calculated based on the census and 1% sample survey data,using the net population mobility calculated based on the population mobility measurement data to replace the explanatory variables;using interaction fixed effects,considering the time lag effect of industrial robot application,panel quantile regression;using the number of computers,U.S.industrial robot penetration and combining two-stage least squares method for endogeneity problem;based on micro labor force survey data combined with conditional probability models to verify that industrial robot applications increase the probability of spatial inflow of labor.The results of the spatial relationship between industrial robot application and labor spatial allocation show that there is a "localneighborhood" spatial relationship between industrial robot application and labor spatial allocation,i.e.,not only local industrial robot application will promote local labor spatial allocation,but also industrial robot application in other neighboring cities will promote local labor spatial allocation.The decomposition of the spatial spillover effect shows that the spatial spillover effect of industrial robots on the spatial allocation of labor force is not only in the local area,but also in other cities.The decomposition of the spatial spillover effect shows that the local industrial robot application will promote the spatial allocation of labor in the surrounding areas,and the spatial spillover effect has a 300-km boundary.Fourth,this paper examines the transmission mechanisms of employment and productivity effects of industrial robot applications on labor spatial allocation based on city-level and micro-individual-level data in China.The results of the city-level employment effect mechanism test indicate that industrial robot applications increase the level of urban labor employment,i.e.,there is an employment enhancement effect of industrial machine applications.The results of the group regression mechanism test based on the city employment water mean indicate that the industrial robot application will increase the spatial allocation of labor by increasing the employment level in cities.The results of the employment effect mechanism test at the micro-individual level indicate that the application of industrial robots will increase the probability of individual labor force employment,and further analysis by group regression mechanism reveals that the application of industrial robots will increase the probability of labor force inflow by increasing the probability of individual employment.The results of the city-level total factor productivity effect mechanism show that there is a total factor productivity enhancement effect of industrial robot application,and the results of the group regression mechanism show that industrial robot application will improve the spatial allocation of labor by increasing the total factor productivity of cities.The results of the labor productivity mechanism at the micro-individual level indicate that there is a labor productivity enhancement effect of industrial robot application.Further,the analysis of the group regression mechanism reveals that the application of industrial robots will increase the probability of labor inflow by improving individual labor productivity.Fifth,this paper explores the heterogeneous effects of industrial robots on the spatial allocation of labor from three main aspects: individual migration stickiness,employability,and employment environment.The results of the heterogeneity test in terms of individual migration stickiness show that industrial robot applications mainly promote the spatial allocation of labor with shorter migration time and longer mobility distance,and better promote the spatial allocation of labor with agricultural households.In contrast,marital status does not change the spatial allocation effect of labor force for industrial robot applications.The results of the heterogeneity test in terms of individual employability show that industrial robot applications mainly promote the spatial allocation of labor force in middle and high age,high skill level,non-conventional occupations and service routine occupations,and better promote the spatial allocation of male labor force,but significantly inhibit the inflow of middle and low skill labor force.The results of the heterogeneity test in terms of the environment in which individuals are employed indicate that industrial robot applications mainly promote the spatial allocation of labor in public and private establishments,industry and services,employee and self-employed status,and low settlement threshold cities.To fully mobilize the role of industrial intelligent technology applications represented by industrial robots on the spatial distribution of labor mobility in China,this paper proposes policy recommendations from three aspects: government,enterprises and labor force in response to the research findings.The central and local governments should further encourage the R&D and application of intelligent technologies such as industrial robots,increase financial investment and policy support,and use industrial intelligent technologies to further attract talents to gather and local.Enterprises should actively face the upcoming intelligent production stage,actively promote the R&D and application of industrial intelligent technologies in their own enterprises,reshape the production process with the help of emerging technologies,continuously improve the fit between their own enterprises and the labor force,and give full play to the productivity enhancement of industrial intelligent technologies through human-machine collaboration.The labor force itself should continuously improve its own education level and professional skills to increase the degree of matching between itself and intelligent technology,so as to prevent it from completely withdrawing from the labor market under the impact of industrial intelligent technology. |
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