Robot adoption and firm export: Evidence from China

Whether the robot adoption can lead to a new competitive advantage in international trade has become an urgent problem for firms that export from China. Using matching data from the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) Database and the China Industrial Enterprises Database and China Customs Database for 2011 to 2013, this study examines the impact of robot adoption on firm export and its mechanism. We find that the robot adoption significantly promotes firm export, including the value and intensity of firm export, mainly owing to an improvement in firm productivity. This effect remains robust after using instrumental variable to account for endogenous factors and replacing core explanatory variables. Heterogeneity analysis shows that, first, robot adoption plays a greater role in promoting firm export by foreign enterprises and private enterprises than by state-owned enterprises. Second, robot adoption has a stronger effect on labor-intensive industries than on nonlabor-intensive industries. Third, with the increase of firm scale, innovation and human capital, the promoting effect of robot adoption on firm export increases. Our research provides empirical evidence on the positive impact of robot adoption on firm export and sheds light on how to maintain the competitiveness of manufacturing firms in China.