Do robots boost productivity? A quantitative meta‐study

Abstract

ABSTRACT This meta‐study analyzes the productivity effects of industrial robots. More than 1800 estimates from 85 primary studies are collected. The meta‐analytic evidence suggests that robotization has so far provided, at best, a small boost to productivity. There is strong evidence of publication bias in the positive direction. These findings are observed across all measures of productivity used in the primary literature and are robust to several modern meta‐analytic estimators. My analysis of the drivers of heterogeneity among the findings of primary studies points to diminishing returns to robot adoption. I also find evidence that econometric methods, the level of analysis, as well as the choice of control variables and robot data, can influence the effect size. Finally, several explanatory factors for the emergence of a productivity paradox in the context of robotics are discussed.