Research On The Impact Of The Industrial Robot On Manufacturing Employment And Wages

After the development of the first three industrial revolutions,the social productive forces have exerted unprecedented power.Today,with continuous breakthroughs and innovations in technology,we have entered the era of artificial intelligence.As one of the most important application areas of AI,robots are increasingly being used in production processes.As the "crown jewel of manufacturing",industrial robots are an important carrier for intelligent manufacturing and industrial upgrading in China,affecting China’s development from a manufacturing power to a manufacturing powerhouse.While significantly improving labor productivity,robots also have an impact on employment and wages,further affecting labor market structure and income distribution.This article focuses on the impact and mechanisms of industrial robots on employment,job positions,wages,and income distribution,exploring the role of industrial robots in the development of manufacturing from a new perspective.Based on the micro-panel data of A-share listed companies from 2010 to 2021,this article uses machine learning and text analysis methods to extract the frequency of keywords related to industrial robots from corporate annual reports.It matches the corresponding corporate structural features and financial indicators data in the CMSAR and Wind databases to study the impact and mechanisms of industrial robot usage on employment,wage levels,and income distribution in China’s manufacturing industry.The research results show that:(1)The use of industrial robots in China’s manufacturing industry has a significant positive impact on employment,and overall,robots create new job positions that exceed the substitution effect of "replacing people with machines";(2)The use of industrial robots in manufacturing significantly increases enterprise wages;(3)The use of robots does not widen the income gap within manufacturing enterprises.Instead,it reduces the income gap between management and ordinary employees,promoting shared prosperity within the enterprise;(4)Employee wages are closely related to enterprise revenue,and enterprise revenue is closely related to total factor productivity.However,the mechanism by which industrial robot usage improves a company’s total factor productivity and revenue is only significant in capital-intensive industries;(5)One reason why the income gap within manufacturing enterprises has not widened is that workers’ autonomy and bargaining power have increased.This article further conducted robustness tests using two methods,including the lagged one-period core explanatory variable and the system generalized method of moments(sys-GMM)with dynamic panel data.The above conclusions still hold.The article also conducted heterogeneity analysis on time periods,industries,enterprise nature,job types,job levels,and education levels.The following conclusions were drawn:(1)before 2016,the use of robots in manufacturing reduced employment positions,lowered employee wages,and widened income gaps,but the effects were not significant.After 2016,the use of industrial robots increased employment positions,improved employee wages,and narrowed income gaps.The first two effects were significant,but the impact on income gaps was not significant.(2)The use of robots significantly increased employment positions and wages in both capital-intensive and labor-intensive enterprises,without significantly widening income gaps between the two different types of factor-intensive enterprises.(3)For state-owned enterprises,the use of robots significantly promoted job creation and improved employee wages.For non-state-owned enterprises,the use of robots significantly increased employment positions and improved employee income but not significantly.For both types of enterprises,the use of robots did not significantly widen income gaps.(4)In terms of job types,the employment positions significantly increased by the use of industrial robots were from production and technical positions,without significant impact on other personnel’s employment positions.(5)In terms of job levels,the use of robots significantly increased the number of ordinary employees’ positions,without significant promotion effects on the number of supervisory positions.(6)In terms of education levels,the use of robots significantly increased the number of positions for undergraduates,without significant promotion effects on positions for postgraduates who are likely to engage in management.In capital-intensive manufacturing enterprises,the use of industrial robots improves total factor productivity,thereby increasing business revenue,leading to an increase in employee wages.This mechanism is not significant in labor-intensive enterprises.Based on the research conclusions of this article,the following policy recommendations are proposed:(1)Transform the government’s function and do a good job in employment guidance.(2)Accelerate industrial upgrading and increase investment in training.(3)Improve workers’ own skills for career development.(4)Adhere to the principle of jointly promoting by the government,enterprises,and individuals,jointly promote high-quality development of the manufacturing industry,and achieve the great Chinese dream of common prosperity.