In the context of increasing global economic uncertainty and the gradual disappearance of the demographic dividend, China's export industry is facing multiple challenges such as weakening labor cost advantage, frequent external shocks and increasing industrial chain security risks. Based on panel data from 257 cities in China from 2009 to 2023, this paper empirically investigates the impact of industrial robot penetration on export resilience from the city level. The results show that industrial robots can greatly reduce the cost of export industries through labor adjustment and upgrading effects and industrial chain integration and coordination effects, reshape the comparative advantages of cities, and then improve export resilience. Further analysis shows that the promotion effect of industrial robots on export resilience is more significant in inland areas and cities with high regional integration level. The nonlinear test results show that there is an "inverted U" relationship between robots and export toughness, and moderate penetration is the key to achieve the maximum effect of industrial robots. The research conclusions show that industrial robots are not only an important tool to make up for the decline of comparative advantage in labor, but also a key driving force to promote the transformation and upgrading of the export system.
CUI Lin-hao
,
FENG Feng
,
FENG Zhuo
. Redefining comparative advantage: The impact of industrial robot applications on urban export resilience[J]. Urban Problems, 2025
, 361(8)
: 36
-47
.
DOI: 10.13239/j.bjsshkxy.cswt.250805
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