The Effect of Robots on Firm Performance and Employment

Recent improvements in robotics have rekindled ancient fears about the impact of robotics on humankind. Unfortunately, existing data seldom distinguishes robots from other types of automation, so research into their impact so far has been difficult. This article introduces research from a new Statistics Canada dataset, Robots!, on the impact of robots at the firm-level. The article examines the impact of robot investment on firm performance and employment at the enterprise level.