NRI: Workers, Firms, and Industries in Robotic Regions

Georgia Tech Research Corporation, Atlanta GA

Investigators

Abstract

This research project focuses on the U.S. robotics industry and the economic impacts of robotics technology. The researchers will generate new data and then analyze it. The goal of the project is to assess the impacts of robotics on work and the economy following a significant leap in robotic capabilities that has enabled robot-human collaboration. It will build on previous work of the research team, which characterized the U.S. robotics industry and identified regions that host relatively intense research, development, and commerce relating to robotics. The researchers will use a mixed methods approach that situates robot use and diffusion in a regional context. They will survey manufacturers about their robot use and associated employment patterns, and they survey of systems integrators; their prior research has determined that systems integrators are as a group crucial to the U.S. robotics industry. They will also analyze novel labor market data to assess robot-related employment supply and demand, and they will conduct a cross-case comparison of two robotic regions that have significant robotics-related employment. This research will enable current and future policy makers, workers, and corporate leaders to make more informed decisions in anticipation of-and in response to-the diffusion of robots throughout the economy. It will shed light on evolving employment structures, the changing nature of work, firm strategies, and regional economic evolution as robots diffuse. Professional and trade associations, regional planning, workforce and economic development agencies, and popular media will be targeted for dissemination efforts. The proposed research will advance understanding of the relationship between 21st century technology and work, meeting a need to assess robots as more than just advanced manufacturing technology, given the rise of collaborative robots in manufacturing and expected diffusion into the service sector. It employs a comprehensive approach to assessing technological change by combining theoretical perspectives and empirical analysis of regional economic development with engineering approaches to robot development and adoption in production. The research team is multidisciplinary, including professors of economic development planning and robotics engineering. The proposed research extends the team's preliminary research, which indicates that distinct robotic regions have emerged within the US. It overcomes the significant deficit of actual data on robot use and diffusion at the national and subnational levels through the use of industry survey and case study methodologies, and through an analysis of real time labor market data made possible through advances in big data collection. By identifying regional factors that lead to innovations in robotics technologies and influence local firm decisions to use robots, this research will equip local policy makers with knowledge to foster competitive and resilient places in the context of rapid technological change.