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The growing recognition of industrial robots as a source of innovation and competitiveness for manufacturing is motivating calls for a supportive industrial ecology and policy framework. However, little is known about factors that stimulate robot adoption at the firm level. Based on survey results of 428 manufacturing establishments, this study examines 1) the current diffusion of robotics in manufacturing and 2) establishment- and region-level characteristics associated with robot adoption. Our analysis shows that while earlier robot adopters were mainly large establishments in the automotive sector, robots are now penetrating small- and medium-sized establishments and other sectors. Furthermore, being in a region with a large pool of existing robot users and robot-related skilled labour positively affects establishments’ decisions on robot adoption. These trends suggest cumulative advantages (and disadvantages) regarding technology upgrading and a need for policies that can encourage wider adoption of robots. 

Abstract Advances in robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) technology have spurred a re-examination of technology’s impacts on jobs and the economy. This article reviews several key contributions to the current jobs/AI debate, discusses their limitations and offers a modified approach, analysing two quantitative models in tandem. One uses robot stock data from the International Federation of Robotics as the primary indicator of robot use, whereas the other uses online job postings requiring robot-related skills. Together, the models suggest that since the Great Recession ended, robots have contributed positively to manufacturing employment in the USA at the metropolitan level.