关键词: 工业机器人, 高等教育入学率, 性别异质性

Abstract: “Machine Replacing Humans” has become an important academic and social topic, but existing research generally ignores the fact that robots will induce the labor to upgrade their knowledge structure. This paper uses the panel data from 67 countries (regions) during 1993 to 2019 to empirically examine the impact of industrial robots on tertiary enrollment rate and its gender heterogeneity. Firstly, it is found that industrial robots significantly increase the tertiary enrollment rate. This result is still robust after adopting causal identification strategies such as propensity score matching and instrumental variables. Secondly, industrial robots has a stronger incentive for women to participate in higher education compared to men, and this gender heterogeneity is particularly significant in developing economies. Thirdly, the development of human capital-intensive industries has a moderating effect. With the increase of high-tech manufacturing exports and the added value of high-end service industry, the impact of the industrial robots on tertiary enrollment rate will be enhanced. This paper expands the literature on the social benefits of artificial intelligence, and provides empirical inspiration for exploring the phenomenon of “Machine Educating Humans”.

Key words: Industrial Robots, Tertiary Enrollment Rate, Gender Heterogeneity