How Does the Application of Industrial Robots in Enterprises Affect Employee's Health?Evidence From the China Employer-Employee Survey
Advancing the construction of Healthy China serves as a crucial foundation for building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and substantially realizing socialist modernization.While there is widespread concern about the impact of industrial robots on labor market employment and wages,relatively few studies have extended their focus,grounded in China's economic and social context,to investigate the effects of industrial robots on workers'health and overall population welfare.This paper firstly analyzes the mechanisms underlying the influence of the application of industrial robots in enterprises on employee's health,based on the Grossman model of health demand,from three aspects:reduced workload and work difficulty,enhanced employee's health benefits,and increased wage and income levels.Drawing on data from the 2018 China Employer-Employee Survey(CEES),the study delves into the impact on employee's specifically within the manufacturing sector,focusing directly on the application of industrial robots in enterprises.The findings reveal that the application of industrial robots in enterprises improves employee's health.Heterogeneity analysis shows that this improvement is more pronounced in large enterprises and non-state-owned enterprises by enterprise type,among middle-aged workers by age group,and over the long term by time horizon.Mechanism analysis indicates that the improvement stems from reduced workload and work difficulty,enhanced employee's health benefits,and higher wage and income levels.In terms of research perspective,this research differs from previous studies that broadly examined the impact of industrial robots on the entire labor market or industry by focusing on incumbent workers who maintain employment in manufacturing sector under the application of industrial robots.This targeted group enables a more direct and in-depth exploration of the direct health effects of industrial robots on workers.In terms of mechanism analysis,this paper innovatively applies the Grossman model of health demand as a theoretical framework,constructing a mechanism for how the application of industrial robots in enterprises affects employee's health.It systematically explores how this adoption influences employee's health by altering workload,work difficulty,health benefits,and wage and income levels.In terms of data utilization,the CEES data ensures the specificity and accuracy of research data,directly reflecting the impact of industrial robots on employee's health in the manufacturing sector.By focusing on the application of industrial robots at the enterprise level,it avoids the potential ambiguity of measuring industrial robot adoption through city-level penetration rates,thereby providing a more precise analysis of the robotic impact on employee.
application of industrial robots in enterprisesemployee's healthwork intensityHealthy China initiative