The Effect of Industrial Robot Applications on Common Prosperity:A Perspective from Urban-rural Income Gap
This paper examines the impact of industrial robot application on urban-rural income gap in the context of the advent of the intelligent manufacturing era and China's sustained lead in the installation and stock of industrial robots worldwide.Utilizing panel data from 271 cities across China,the study reveals significant insights into the relationship between industrial automation and urban-rural inequality.Our findings are summarized as follows.First,the application of industrial robots significantly narrows the urban-rural income gap.A one standard deviation increase in the density of industrial robot installations can lead to an average reduction of 3.3％in the urban-rural income gap over the sample period.Second,industrial robots enhance the income of rural migrant workers,thereby reducing income disparity.However,there is also an effect that widens the gap by increasing the disparity in urban-rural fixed asset investment per capita and total profits,but the overall net effect is to reduce the urban-rural income gap.Third,heterogeneity analysis shows that the application of robots in cities with more developed agriculture has a smaller effect on reducing urban-rural income gap.In cities with a higher concentration of high-tech industries,the application of robots leads to increased income for both urban and rural residents.Furthermore,the application of robots allows high-skilled migrant workers to earn more but remit less back to rural areas.The marginal contributions are as follows.Firstly,the study explores the impact of industrial robot application on urban-rural income gap against the backdrop of China's industrial robot boom and the urban-rural divide,providing crucial evidence that technological progress may positively contribute to common prosperity.Secondly,the study explains the micro-mechanism of how industrial robot application affects urban-rural income disparity,offering micro-level evidence for macro-outcomes.Thirdly,the study's mechanism indicates that the impact of industrial robot application on urban-rural income gap is bidirectional,with both"expanding"and"narrowing"effects,but the net effect is the latter.This finding aids in enhancing the"narrowing effect"of industrial robot application on urban-rural income gap and suppressing the"expanding effect",thereby better serving the common prosperity of urban and rural areas.
industrial robot applicationsrural migranturban-rural income gapcommon prosperity
NETL
NSTL
万方数据
