Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/282158 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Series/Report no.: 
Discussion Paper No. 467
Publisher: 
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München und Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Collaborative Research Center Transregio 190 - Rationality and Competition, München und Berlin
Abstract: 
We investigate the impact of product market competition on firms' automation investments. We use a rich combination of micro-data on Portuguese exporters and exploit a novel source of variation in the degree of competition they face – a tariff liberalization between the European Union and Central and Eastern European countries in the 1990s. We find that firms facing greater competition in export markets tend to reduce investments in automation technologies. These average negative effects are driven by the least productive firms, while the most efficient exporters in industries that are more prone to automation tend to robotize in order to compete. These findings suggest that an increase in the degree of product market competition widens disparities between firms.
Subjects: 
automation
product market competition
firm heterogeneity
trade liberalization
workers
multi-product firms
JEL: 
D22
F16
J23
L25
O33
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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