机器人能否提升企业劳动生产率?——机制与事实

Can robots improve labor productivity?Mechanism and facts

借助2000-2013年中国工业企业数据和海关贸易数据匹配而得的企业层面综合数据库,分析了机器人的使用对我国企业劳动生产率的影响。研究结果表明,机器人使用量的增加会显著提高中国制造业企业的劳动生产率,与没有使用机器人的企业相比,使用机器人的企业劳动生产率高7.45%。变换衡量指标和计量方法后,上述结论依然稳健。异质性分析结果显示,不管是高新技术企业还是非高新技术企业,使用机器人均能显著提升其劳动生产率,另外,非国有企业、资本密集型企业使用机器人对企业劳动生产率的提升作用较为明显。此外,研究了机器人的使用对企业劳动生产率影响的产出渠道和劳动力渠道。最后,分析了企业使用机器人的水平溢出效应。随着第四次工业革命的加速发展,机器人的应用对制造业企业劳动生产率的拉动作用举足轻重,我国应抓住机遇,提高机器人在各行业的利用率,全面提升制造业国际竞争力。

This paper analyzes the impact of the use of robots on the labor productivity of Chinese enterprises by using the enterprise level comprehensive database based on the matching of Chinese industrial enterprise data and customs trade data from 2000 to 2013. The study finds that the increase in the use of robots can significantly improve the labor productivity of Chinese manufacturing enterprises. The labor productivity of enterprises that use robots is 7.45% higher than those that do not use robots. Meanwhile, the above conclusions are still robust after changing the measurement indexes and methods. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the use of robots by both high-tech and non-high-tech enterprises can significantly improve their labor productivity, and the use of robots by non-state-owned and capital-intensive enterprises has a more pronounced effect on enterprise labor productivity. Moreover, this paper analyzes the output channel and labor channel of robots on enterprise productivity. Finally, this paper analyzes the spillover effect of the robot on enterprise productivity. With the accelerating development of the fourth industrial revolution, the application of robots plays a vital role in driving the labor productivity of manufacturing enterprises. China should seize the opportunity to improve the utilization rate of robots in various industries and comprehensively enhance the international competitiveness of China’s manufacturing industry.