1. Introduction
In recent years, the phenomenon of “robots replacing humans” has rapidly gained momentum across various industries. In 2022, China’s industrial-robot consumption reached 297,000 units, maintaining its global lead for ten consecutive years. Zombie firms denote companies that are facing operational challenges and low profitability but are still surviving due to financial aid or lenient credit terms. Therefore, can the use of industrial robots help zombie firms overcome challenges? On one hand, increasing the number of robots used will significantly raise the purchasing and maintenance costs for firms. Limited availability of skilled professionals may hinder the effective utilization of robots, and the rapidly escalating costs are unfavorable for the revival of zombie firms. However, on the other hand, increasing the use of robots can reduce the likelihood of human errors in production, contribute to improving product quality, and enhance overall enterprise efficiency. Simultaneously, the use of robots contributes to increasing operational efficiency, expanding production scale, lowering production costs, and generating economies of scale, thereby improving overall enterprise performance and promoting the revival of zombie firms.
In order to investigate the impact of robot usage on the revival of zombie enterprises and the relevant mechanisms, we utilize data from Chinese A-share manufacturing companies from 2011 to 2018. China’s A-share manufacturing companies denote manufacturing firms with shares listed and traded on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges in China. We analyze the relationship between industrial-robot usage and the revival of zombie firms, study the channel mechanisms through which robot usage affects the revival of zombie firms, and analyze the heterogeneous effects of robot usage on different types of zombie firms.
Our research is closely related to two categories of the literature: one is about the economic effects of robot applications and their impacts on employment, and the other is about zombie firms. Regarding the economic effects of robot applications, some scholars have analyzed the impacts of robot applications on the micro-performance of enterprises. For instance, Graetz and Michaels (2018), Koch et al. (2021) found that increasing the use of robots can significantly improve the labor productivity of companies [
1,
2]. Ghobakhloo and Fathi (2021) argue that industrial robots, as a form of general technological advancement, can drive the rational allocation of production factors, thereby optimizing the production process [
3]. Another group of scholars has analyzed the impacts of robot applications on macroeconomic development. For example, Vinuesa et al. (2020) believe that the integration of technologies like robots with economic activities is a crucial engine driving the transformation and upgrading of the manufacturing industry [
4]. Kromann et al. (2020) analyzed the impact of industrial-robot applications on economic growth and income inequality among residents [
5].
Regarding the impacts of robot applications on employment, the focus is mainly on aspects such as the total employment and the structure of employment. Concerning the impact on total employment, some scholars argue that robot applications generate a substitution effect on labor. For instance, Bidwell (2013) suggests that in situations where machines can replace human labor, employers are more inclined to adopt flexible and elastic employment relationships to adapt to constantly changing market demands and withstand external economic shocks [
6]. Frey and Osborne (2017), using a Bayesian-classifier method and analyzing 702 occupations in the United States, found that 47% of positions are at high risk of being highly automated [
7]. Dauth et al. (2017) found that the application of industrial robots can significantly reduce labor costs for companies, with each additional industrial robot replacing an average of 1.6 full-time employees [
8]. Acemoglu and Restrepo (2018) analyzed U.S. data and discovered a negative correlation between robot applications and employment in the United States [
9]. However, some scholars believe that robot applications can increase employment opportunities. For example, Autor (2015), using data from the U.S. manufacturing sector, found that the application of robots led to the creation of 230,000 new jobs from 2010 to 2015 [
10]. Alexopoulos and Cohen (2016) argue that technological progress increases production efficiency, promotes the expansion of production scale, and increases demand for labor [
11]. Dauth et al. (2021) found that robot applications reduce employment in the manufacturing sector, but these effects are completely offset by new jobs in the service industry, resulting in an overall increase in labor demand [
12]. Autor et al. (2022) found that automation innovation significantly increases new tasks and new occupations, thereby increasing the potential for workers’ job transitions [
13].
Regarding the impact on employment structure, Benzel et al. (2019) found that under the application of new technologies such as robots, when the skills of workers do not match the skill levels required for the job positions, it can lead to structural unemployment [
14]. When workers anticipate that their current jobs are about to be replaced by intelligent devices, robots, and algorithms, their willingness to undergo job transitions became stronger (Brougham and Haar, 2018) [
15]. Aghion et al. (2020) found that the negative impact of robots on employment was greater for an uneducated group of workers compared to an educated group [
16]. When analyzing the heterogeneity of robot impact on employment, Acemoglu and Restrepo (2020) found that the substitution effect of robot applications is more pronounced for blue-collar occupations involved in routine and physical labor [
17]. Xie et al. (2021) pointed out in their analysis that enterprises introducing artificial intelligence will reduce the demand for low-skilled labor while continuously increasing the demand for high-skilled labor [
18].
Research on zombie firms primarily focuses on two aspects. First, regarding the causes of zombie firms, scholars believe that factors such as the explicitization of non-performing loans by banks (Peek and Rosengren, 2005), unreasonable bankruptcy systems (McGowan et al., 2017), and government subsidies (Hoshi and Kshyap, 2010; Chang et al., 2021) are the main triggers for the formation of zombie firms [
19,
20,
21,
22]. Second, concerning the economic effects of zombie firms, Kwon et al. (2015) and Tan et al. (2016) argue that zombie firms occupy a significant amount of resources, suppressing the production efficiency of non-zombie firms and hindering the rational allocation of resources [
23,
24]. The negative effects of zombie firms are also evident in areas such as financing costs (Lin et al., 2015; Imai, 2016), the ratio of new entrants (Hoshi and Kim, 2012), and the deterioration of excess production capacity (Shen and Chen, 2017) [
25,
26,
27,
28]. Furthermore, scholars have analyzed the impact of measures such as subsidy preferential policies (Bruche and Llobet, 2014) and credit allocation efficiency (Dai et al., 2021) on the exit of zombie firms from the market [
29,
30].
While a considerable body of literature has explored the influence of robot applications on macroeconomic development and employment, there is a dearth of research on their effects on micro-enterprise development, particularly concerning zombie firms. In addressing the developmental challenges of zombie firms, our focus is on facilitating their transformation into normal firms. Nevertheless, the existing literature has not delved into the impacts of robot applications on the revival of zombie firms. Thus, relying on the current literature, it proves challenging to ascertain whether robot applications can facilitate the revival of zombie firms, not to mention the channel mechanisms through which robot applications affect the revival of zombie firms. Additionally, it remains unclear whether robot applications will exhibit heterogeneous effects on the revival of various types of zombie firms.
Through an exploration of the transmission mechanism and the heterogeneous effects of robot applications on the revival of zombie firms, we can conduct a thorough analysis of the varied impacts of robot applications on different types of zombie firms, thereby aligning with the research objective of understanding the impacts of robot applications on the revival of zombie firms. In comparison to the existing literature, this paper makes the following marginal contributions. First, from the perspective of the profound integration of robots into the real economy, we investigated the impacts of robot applications on the revival of zombie firms, thereby enriching the relevant research on robot applications and zombie firms. Second, we analyze the mechanisms through which robot applications impact the revival of zombie firms. We discover that enhancing capital returns, labor productivity, and TFP serve as effective channels for fostering the revival of zombie firms. Third, relying on regional characteristics, capital intensity, and pollution emissions of enterprises, we analyze the heterogeneous effects of robot applications on the revival of various types of zombie firms. Our research will offer valuable insights for the transformation and development of zombie firms.
The remainder of this paper is organized as follows.
Section 2 analyzes the characteristics of the main variables and theoretically examines the mechanisms through which robot applications affect the revival of zombie firms.
Section 3 introduces the model settings and variable selection.
Section 4 empirically tests the impacts of robot applications on the revival of zombie firms and their channel mechanisms, as well as the heterogeneous effects on the revival of different types of zombie firms.
Section 5 conducts robustness tests.
Section 6 presents the main research conclusions.
6. Conclusions
We utilized data from Chinese-manufacturing-listed companies from 2011 to 2018 to investigate the impact of industrial-robot applications on the revival of zombie firms. Our results indicate that the use of industrial robots can effectively help zombie firms to overcome challenges and achieve sustainable development. Empirical results indicate that for each 1% increase in the density of industrial-robot usage the revival rate of zombie enterprises rises by 0.49 percentage points.
Examining the channels of influence, the use of robots can promote the revival of zombie enterprises by increasing capital returns, labor productivity, and total-factor productivity. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that the impact of industrial robots on the revival of zombie enterprises is constrained by various factors, such as the region where the enterprise is located, the intensity of capital, and pollution-emission levels. Specifically, industrial-robot applications increase the revival rates of zombie enterprises in the southern region, labor-intensive zombie enterprises, and low-pollution zombie enterprises. The impacts on zombie enterprises in the northern region, capital-intensive zombie enterprises, and high-pollution zombie enterprises are not significant.
Lastly, constrained by data availability, there exists an inevitable limitation in the selection of indicators for gauging the utilization of robots. Hence, for future research in this domain, we intend to explore other pertinent variables to undertake a more exhaustive analysis of the influence of robot applications on zombie firms. In subsequent research endeavors, we will delve deeper into analyzing the differentiated impacts of robot applications on zombie firms across diverse markets. Additionally, within the framework of low-carbon transformation and development, we will scrutinize the synergistic effects and implementation pathways of robot applications in zombie firms to contribute to pollution reduction and carbon reduction.