Estimating the effects of robotization on exports
Gideon Ndubuisi & Elvis Avenyo
#2018-046
Digitalization and robotization are two essential aspects of modern
technological advancement. Albeit, the former has gained scholastic
attention of empirical trade economists, the latter has not. This paper,
therefore, examines the impact of robotization on trade. Specifically,
we estimate empirically the effect of robotization on total exports, and
further examine its effect on the different export margins. We find
robust evidence that robotization increases total exports, and this
effect works both along the extensive (number of exported product
varieties) and intensive margins (average value of exported product
variety). Results obtained using the volume and price of exports suggest
that the positive effect of robotization on the intensive margin is
driven by increases in both the quantity and unit prices of exports.
Redefining the margins as the number of market destinations and the
number of product by market destination, our results also show a
positive effect of robotization.
Keywords: Robotization, Exports, Extensive and Intensive Margins
JEL Classification: F14, O31, O33, O14