Automation and the Intra-firm Inequality: How Industrial Robots Reshape Income Distribution Between Managers and Workers in China

Automation and the Intra-firm Inequality: How Industrial Robots Reshape Income Distribution Between Managers and Workers in China | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Automation and the Intra-firm Inequality: How Industrial Robots Reshape Income Distribution Between Managers and Workers in China Shanshan Zhu, Xuepei Yan, Zerun Wang This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6786113/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The rapid proliferation of industrial robots, as a core driver of China's intelligent manufacturing transformation, has reignited debates about technology-driven inequality within organizations. Drawing on data from Chinese A-share listed firms and industrial robot deployment statistics from the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), this study identifies the causal impact of robotic automation on the managerial-worker income divide. The results indicate that the use of industrial robots notably amplifies the income gap between management and ordinary employees, with this result holding consistent across various robustness checks. Mechanism analysis reveals that the use of industrial robots induces more income to flow towards corporate management through the risk compensation effect and rent-sharing effect, thereby expanding the income gap with ordinary employees. Heterogeneity analysis shows that this conclusion is more pronounced in non-state-owned enterprises, high-tech firms, and enterprises located in areas with high labor costs. This paper contributes to a deeper understanding of how industrial robotics impact income distribution and provides policy implications for the overall promotion of industrial intelligence and common prosperity. Business and commerce/Business and management Business and commerce/Economics Social science/Business and management Social science/Economics Social science/Science technology and society Industrial Robots Automation Intra-firm Inequality Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6786113","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":472079614,"identity":"bc5183d1-cb7f-45a0-a282-3f86c4f5afc6","order_by":0,"name":"Shanshan Zhu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Northwest University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Shanshan","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhu","suffix":""},{"id":472079615,"identity":"cd2d5d9f-b07e-4394-b5a2-d1fd64a2056e","order_by":1,"name":"Xuepei Yan","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Northwest University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Xuepei","middleName":"","lastName":"Yan","suffix":""},{"id":472079616,"identity":"cf85c9bf-e7f2-45eb-8f6d-a8fb43562a50","order_by":2,"name":"Zerun Wang","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA2UlEQVRIie3RvQrCMBDA8UjALpGu6aDPUAgUoYKDL5Jb7OLH2sEhU1wE1z5GQXCOBJziXtCHKLiLaZ0cjHVzyH87yG+4C0I+3x8WYqwUjyej8DXj7yTaSlB1PmeR6EpiY9ipMBpK1ZWgisd6IDVj111CUZ6CCC7KKXoF55Zko+RmLDEZCLLiToIpV5akLKmWR9qTGgQlsZP0KQhLMByKhjw6EEI0suvPoKQNER0IDSRqj0yr9X3MzxmTZOEmUx3e6/YrizlU9SYd7gPjJu/xZrsf3vt8Pp/vQ0+3JUoa2dCaOwAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Northwest University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Zerun","middleName":"","lastName":"Wang","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-05-30 15:38:23","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6786113/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6786113/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":99794516,"identity":"1dd0a528-f4f1-461d-a70b-20735ec42bf9","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-08 13:35:10","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":410940,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"AutomationandtheIntrafirmInequalityHowIndustrialRobotsReshapeIncomeDistributionBetweenManagersandWorkersinChina.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6786113/v1_covered_f997ce4d-cbf1-48d9-bedf-79d0b59812d4.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Automation and the Intra-firm Inequality: How Industrial Robots Reshape Income Distribution Between Managers and Workers in China","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Industrial Robots, Automation, Intra-firm Inequality","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6786113/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6786113/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThe rapid proliferation of industrial robots, as a core driver of China's intelligent manufacturing transformation, has reignited debates about technology-driven inequality within organizations. Drawing on data from Chinese A-share listed firms and industrial robot deployment statistics from the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), this study identifies the causal impact of robotic automation on the managerial-worker income divide. The results indicate that the use of industrial robots notably amplifies the income gap between management and ordinary employees, with this result holding consistent across various robustness checks. Mechanism analysis reveals that the use of industrial robots induces more income to flow towards corporate management through the risk compensation effect and rent-sharing effect, thereby expanding the income gap with ordinary employees. Heterogeneity analysis shows that this conclusion is more pronounced in non-state-owned enterprises, high-tech firms, and enterprises located in areas with high labor costs. This paper contributes to a deeper understanding of how industrial robotics impact income distribution and provides policy implications for the overall promotion of industrial intelligence and common prosperity.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Automation and the Intra-firm Inequality: How Industrial Robots Reshape Income Distribution Between Managers and Workers in China","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-06-18 19:40:13","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6786113/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"45a39c3e-c5e2-47c9-b004-3f32bd1057dd","owner":[],"postedDate":"June 18th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":50132834,"name":"Business and commerce/Business and management"},{"id":50132835,"name":"Business and commerce/Economics"},{"id":50132836,"name":"Social science/Business and management"},{"id":50132837,"name":"Social science/Economics"},{"id":50132838,"name":"Social science/Science technology and society"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-01-06T18:23:41+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-06-18 19:40:13","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-6786113","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-6786113","identity":"rs-6786113","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}