Industrial robots and where to find them : evidence and theory on derobotization

Camilo, Amil; Gokalp, Doruk; Iurchenko, Daniil; Klix, Julian; Rubinoff, Jeremy

Industrial robots and where to find them : evidence and theory on derobotization

License

Citation

Camilo, A, Gokalp, D, Iurchenko, D, Klix, J, Rubinoff, J. Industrial robots and where to find them : evidence and theory on derobotization. 2020. handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10230/46385

This citation was generated automatically.

Abstract

Using firm-level data from Spain, we investigate robot abandonment, a phenomenon neglected by the literature, and find that a substantial proportion of robot adoption is non-permanent. We also find that (i) firms are most likely to derobotize shortly after robotization; (ii) derobotization rates are higher among smaller firms; and (iii) labor demand falls after derobotization. We develop a model of reversible automation in which firms learn the costs of using robots only after they first adopt them. We simulate a panel of firms that match the data and demonstrate that analyses of automation which ignore abandonment can overestimate the effects of automation.