From 2000 to 2016 new robot adoption grew by roughly 70 percent in North America and Europe, whereas it grew more than 300 percent in the rest of the world.

Fact of the Week: Developing Countries Are Leading Global Growth in Robot Adoption

Automation boosts labor productivity, which is key to long-run economic growth. A new study examines the impact of automation on labor productivity in nine manufacturing industries across 12 European countries from 1995 to 2005, comparing the number of robots in use in an industry with the amount it invests in non-ICT capital.

Fact of the Week: Doubling the Intensity of Investment in Robots Increases an Industry’s Labor Productivity by 6.9 Percent, on Average

Fact of the Week: Doubling the Intensity of Investment in Robots Increases an Industry's Labor Productivity by 6.9 Percent, on Average

The global average for industrial robots per 10,000 workers increased to 74 robots in 2016 from 66 robots in 2015, a 12 percent increase, writes John Wu in Innovation Files.

Fact of the Week: There Were 74 Industrial Robots per 10,000 Workers Globally in 2016, up From 66 in 2015, a 12 Percent Increase

An October 2023 working paper found that a 1-percent increase in a proxy for robot exposure was associated with a 0.30 percentage point increase per year in productivity and a 0.15-percentage point increase per year in sales.

Fact of the Week: Robot Imports Improved Productivity of French Manufacturing Firms

From 2005 to 2016, economists Jon Chung and Yong Suk Lee found that, while robots initially led to lower employment and wages for affected workers, that trend reversed as firms and workers adjusted to the broader adoption of robots in production.

Fact of the Week: Each Industrial Robot Installed in Recent Years Created Between 13 and 16 Jobs

The automation of manufacturing industries is a major public concern due to the salience of layoffs that are directly attributed to robot adoption. But closer analysis of automation’s impacts generally reveals that these fears are overblown.

Fact of the Week: Increasing Industrial Robot Adoption Between 2000 and 2014 Increased Employment by 5 Percent and Value Added by 12 Percent

After South Korea reduced its tax credit for automation in 2018 from 7 percent to 3 percent for large firms, South Korean industries, on average, reduced robot installations by 28 percent compared with their Japanese counterparts.

Fact of the Week: Industries Impacted by a Quasi-Robot Tax in South Korea Reduced Industrial Robot Installations by 28 Percent

In 1983, the Japanese government began a series of robot technology R&D projects, which partnered with Japanese firms. New analysis of 25 years of these projects, from 1993 to 2008, found that not only did these projects create valuable results, they also caused participating firms to be more efficient in their future research.

Fact of the Week: Japanese Firms Increased Their Productivity in Robot Technology R&D After Cooperative Research with Government

Automation’s effect on labor demand has long been seen by the public as negative. Japanese researchers challenged this perception when they examined robots’ impact on employment across a range of Japanese industries from 1978 to 2017.

Fact of the Week: Robot Adoption Leads to Economic Growth in Highly Productive Nations

Related

Fact of the Week: Developing Countries Are Leading Global Growth in Robot Adoption

Fact of the Week: Doubling the Intensity of Investment in Robots Increases an Industry’s Labor Productivity by 6.9 Percent, on Average

Fact of the Week: There Were 74 Industrial Robots per 10,000 Workers Globally in 2016, up From 66 in 2015, a 12 Percent Increase