Industrial robotics and product(ion) quality

The following report examines the importance of industrial robotics as a driver of production and trade quality. In an attempt to peer below the aggregate surface of traditional industrial GVC indicators, the paper relies on 6 digit product level trade data to assess the extent to which industrial robotics influence the quality of exported and imported goods for developed and emerging economies over the last two decades. The results demonstrate that robotics contribute to increasing quality of exports however the effect is somewhat nuanced between high income and emerging economies. For high-income countries the diffusion of robots is linked with an increase in within product quality, however for emerging economies quality gains appear to be somewhat more pronounced between products. At the same time, robotics appear to have little or no effect on import quality or on the concentration of exports and products for either type of economy.