The rise of robots and the fall of cost stickiness: Evidence from Chinese manufacturers

Industrial robots are increasingly used to perform tasks traditionally assigned humans. Using a sample of Chinese manufacturers, we examine the impact robot adoption on firm cost stickiness. We find that is associated with less sticky costs. The negative stickiness particularly meaningful for state-owned enterprises and firms higher labour costs, becomes significantly stronger after enactment China's Labour Contract Law, which increases adjustment These findings consistent conjecture allows reduce their overall