Research Findings of Professor Qi Jianhong’s Team Published in The Journal of World Economy and China Industrial Economics

Recently, two research findings of Professor Qi Jianhong’s team from the School of Economics, Shandong University, Robot Application and "Stabilizing Foreign Investment" and Industrial Robot Application and Outward Industrial Transfer under the OFDI Mode: Also on Mitigating the Impact of the "Dual Paradox" of Industrial Chains, were published in The Journal of World Economy (Issue 8, 2024) and China Industrial Economics (Issue 6, 2024) respectively, both top economics journals.

The paper Robot Application and "Stabilizing Foreign Investment", co-authored by Professor Qi Jianhong and Dr. Zhou Mingzhu from the School of Economics, Shandong University of Finance and Economics, uses data from the China Customs Import Database and the China Industrial Enterprise Database to examine the impact of industrial robots on the withdrawal of foreign investment and its mechanism, and further analyzes the role of industrial robots in explaining the differences in foreign investment withdrawal among enterprises and the cluster withdrawal of foreign investment. The results show that the application of industrial robots can significantly reduce the probability of foreign investment withdrawal and prolong the survival time of foreign-funded enterprises. This effect is mainly achieved through mechanisms such as optimizing the labor market, ensuring the stability of the supply chain and improving market diversification. The application of industrial robots is an important factor explaining the differences in foreign investment withdrawal among enterprises, and also helps to alleviate the cluster withdrawal of foreign investment in the same region, same industry and upstream and downstream industries. This paper provides new empirical evidence for how to achieve "stabilizing foreign investment" in the era of artificial intelligence.

The paper Industrial Robot Application and Outward Industrial Transfer under the OFDI Mode: Also on Mitigating the Impact of the "Dual Paradox" of Industrial Chains, co-authored by Professor Qi Jianhong and doctoral students Zhang Zhitong and Zhao Weikang from the School of Economics, Shandong University, empirically examines the impact of industrial robot application on industrial transfer and its channels based on theoretical analysis, using country-industry data of 121 home countries and 186 host countries, and further discusses the impact of industrial robot application on the "dual paradox" of industrial chains. The study finds that the application of industrial robots significantly inhibits outward industrial transfer. This inhibition effect stems from both pull channels such as reducing relative wages, increasing export substitution and intensifying interest game, and push channels such as improving relative production capacity and increasing industry competition, and the pull effect is significantly higher than the push effect. Further analysis finds that while inhibiting outward industrial transfer, the application of industrial robots helps to improve industrial influence and reduce industrial vulnerability, and can alleviate the impact of the "dual paradox" of industrial chains to a certain extent. This paper shows the important significance of industrial robot application for maintaining the security and stability of industrial chains and building a new development pattern.

Qi Jianhong is a Distinguished Young and Middle-aged Scholar of Shandong University and a Professor at the School of Economics, Shandong University. Her main research fields include international trade theory and policy, foreign direct investment (FDI), and artificial intelligence and export upgrading. She has published more than 100 academic papers in CSSCI and SSCI core journals such as Economic Research, The Journal of World Economy, Journal of Financial Research, China Industrial Economics, Economic Research (Quarterly), and Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, and presided over many national and provincial/ministerial-level projects such as the Major Program of the National Social Science Fund and the General Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China.