Research on the Impact of Industrial Robot Adoption on Corporate Risk-Taking—Evidence from Chinese Listed Manufacturing Firms

Industrial robots are an important strategic resource for manufacturing firms to achieve automation and intelligent development, and their role in corporate risk management has become increasingly prominent. Using data on Chinese A-share-listed manufacturing firms from 2012 to 2023, this paper examines the impact of industrial robot adoption on firms’ risk-taking levels. The results show that for every one-unit increase in industrial robot application, the firm’s risk-taking level increases by 0.206 and 0.384 units, respectively. Mechanism analyses indicate that the use of industrial robots can reduce agency costs and enhance innovation capability, thereby promoting higher levels of corporate risk-taking. Further analysis reveals that the positive effect of industrial robot adoption on firms’ risk-taking is significant only for privately owned firms, firms facing high financing constraints, firms with a higher proportion of technical employees, and firms located in regions with high innovation network density. Meanwhile, the relationship between corporate risk-taking and firm value exhibits an inverted U-shaped pattern, indicating that firms should adhere to the principle of moderation when introducing industrial robots, so as to avoid potential damage to firm value caused by excessive or blind investment. This study extends the literature on industrial robots and corporate risk-taking and provides important implications for Chinese manufacturing firms seeking to enhance their risk-taking capacity through the adoption of intelligent technologies.