On Extension of China's Industrial Chain in the Era of Artificial Intelligence:Evidence from Firms'Imports of Industrial Intelligent Equipment
Global value chains(GVCs)have now embarked on a new phase of restructuring,marked by a pronounced shift towards localization,regionalization,and diversification.The strategic utilization of automation technology to facilitate business expansion,guaranteeing the security and resilience of industrial and supply chains,holds promise as a potent avenue for driving high-quality development in China.Based on the Annual Survey of Industrial Firms and Customs Data from 2000 to 2013,this paper delves into the effects of importing industrial intelligent equipment on firms'span of stages in industrial chain and the mechanisms.The findings of this paper are as follows.First,imports of industrial intelligent equipment significantly increase firms'span of stages in industrial chain,indicating that application of intelligent equipment helps firms to expand their business along industrial chains.After addressing issues of reverse causality and selection bias,and conducting robustness checks,our findings remain.Second,the mechanism analysis reveals that since upstream production requires higher capital intensity while downstream production requires higher labor intensity,firms can create more comparative advantages by importing intelligent equipment.On the one hand,intelligent equipment can serve as a"labor substitute",enabling firms to expand their business to the upstream by reducing costs in upstream segments.On the other hand,intelligent equipment can"empower labor",enabling firms to expand their business to the downstream by reducing costs in downstream segments.Third,from the perspective of industrial chain linkage,a firm's import of intelligent equipment exerts a"spillover effect"on its upstream and downstream partners.From the perspective of agglomeration,specialized agglomeration can amplify the effects on expanding firms'span of stages.From the perspective of supply chain risks,import of intelligent equipment aids firms in swiftly adapting their supply chains in the face of supply chain disruptions.Our study suggests that further expanding imports of industrial intelligent equipment can effectively encourage firms to expand their business along industrial chains,offsetting the pressure of rising costs for factors such as labor,and thereby enhancing modernization of industrial chains and supply chains.Additionally,it is imperative to accelerate the process of intelligence adoption within key industries and leading firms,leveraging the amplifying effects of industrial chain linkage to trigger"ripple effects"and thereby strengthen resilience and competitiveness of overall industrial chains.Lastly,we should delve deeper into industrial agglomeration models,leveraging the"labor pool"and"knowledge spillover"effects to forge automated,intelligent,and agile industrial clusters.This will further bolster the effects of intelligent equipment and invigorate the extension and enhancement of industrial chains.
import of industrial intelligent equipmentspan of stages in industrial chainindustrial chain resilienceartificial intelligence
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