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Does occupational injury promote industrial robot applications?

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  • Yang, Siying
  • Liu, Fengshuo
  • Lu, Jingjing
  • He, Xiaogang

Abstract

In theory, replacing workers with robots in dangerous working environments can protect workers' safety. Therefore, a higher frequency of occupational injuries (OIs) may force more industrial robot applications (IRAs). Based on panel data from cities in Guangdong Province from 2003 to 2015, this paper uses a fixed effects panel Tobit model to test the impact of OIs on IRAs. Considering the possibility of a reverse causal relationship between IRAs and OIs, we also use the number of urban cultural academies as an instrumental variable to overcome the endogeneity problem. This study shows that more frequent OIs force more IRAs. The government's industrial policies promote industrial intellectualization but also weaken the promotion effect of OIs on IRAs to a certain extent. The mechanism analysis shows that the heavy burden of public medical expenditure is an important mechanism of OIs forcing IRAs. This paper confirms the driving mechanism of OIs on IRAs, reveals the moderating effect of industrial policy on the impact of OIs on IRAs, and clarifies the mechanism of OIs on IRAs from the perspective of public medical expenditure.

Suggested Citation

  • Yang, Siying & Liu, Fengshuo & Lu, Jingjing & He, Xiaogang, 2022. "Does occupational injury promote industrial robot applications?," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:teinso:v:70:y:2022:i:c:s0160791x22001397
    DOI: 10.1016/j.techsoc.2022.101998
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    2. Kong, Gaowen & Huang, Jiating & Kong, Dongmin & Zhu, Ling, 2023. "Female executives, industrial robots, and stock price crash risk," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).

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