The Impact Of Industrial Robot Applications On Corporate OFDI

In recent years,as China’s demographic dividend is fading,labor cost has become a major influence factor to boost Chinese enterprises’ foreign direct investment,and the application of industrial robots has undoubtedly broken this situation and brought a huge impact to the labor market.On the one hand,the large-scale application of industrial robots significantly improves the automation level of enterprises,increases labor supply,reduces manual operations and lowers labor costs;on the other hand,the use of industrial robots improves the production efficiency of enterprises,promotes industrial upgrading and boosts the value chain.Therefore,it is necessary to conduct an in-depth study on the impact of industrial robots in this context,and explore its impact on enterprises’ OFDI in order to clarify the connotation mechanism.This paper analyzes the theoretical mechanisms of the cost and productivity effects of industrial robots from a microscopic perspective,and constructs an index of industrial robot penetration at the enterprise level in the Chinese manufacturing industry based on the industrial robot data released by the International Federation of Robotics(IFR)from 2010 to 2019,using the two-digit code classification of the Chinese manufacturing industry and the "Batiuk instrumental variable".A series of empirical analyses are conducted by combining and matching the CSMAR database of related transactions of Chinese listed companies and city statistics.The final results show that:(1)industrial robots have a significant promotion effect on enterprises’ outward FDI.(2)Enterprises’ OFDI has inertia characteristics,and investment decisions are long-term and continuous,and the promotion effect of industrial robot application on enterprises’ OFDI is long-term,not only in the current period,but also has significant positive impact on the future,and the positive spillover of technological progress is long-term and sustainable.(3)The heterogeneity test in terms of enterprise,industry and region reveals that industrial robot application has a greater impact on large-scale,capital-intensive enterprises in the eastern region.(4)The mechanism test finds that the impact of industrial robots on enterprises’ OFDI works through two channels: cost effect and productivity effect,which can alleviate the pressure of rising labor cost on enterprises and reduce OFDI caused by rising labor cost on the one hand;on the other hand,it can effectively improve enterprises’ total factor productivity and promote enterprises’ OFDI.Based on the results of the above theoretical analysis and empirical research,this paper puts forward the following recommendations: the state should continue to promote the development and application of industrial robotics,support the intelligent development of small and medium-sized enterprises,increase the intelligent application in the central and western regions,and coordinate the balanced development of intelligent regions;enterprises need to optimize the allocation of resources in domestic and international markets and transform to human resource-driven high-tech industries.