Robots increase labor productivity and value added

Researchers at Uppsala University in Sweden and the London School of Economics in the United Kingdom analysed the economic impact of industrial robots, using new data on a panel of industries in 17 countries from 1993-2007.
They found that industrial robots increased both labor productivity and value added. They calculated that the increased use of robots raised countries’ average growth rates by about 0.37 percentage points.
They also found that robots increased both wages and total factor productivity. While robots had no significant effect on total hours worked, there is some evidence that they reduced the hours of both low-skilled and middle-skilled workers.
Click here to download a discussion paper about the research.

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