Associate Professor Gecheng Yuan, a researcher of the base, has published a collaborative paper titled "Automation and stock market participation" in Pacific-Basin Finance Journal.

Abstract:In this study, we explore whether automation affects household stock market participation. Utilizing data from the International Federation of Robotics, the China Household Finance Survey and the China City Statistical Yearbook, we find that households residing in cities with a higher level of density of industrial robots exhibit lower participation in the stock market at both the extensive and intensive margins. This negative impact is more pronounced among middle-aged and low-skilled workers. Furthermore, the growth of the gig economy can mitigate these adverse effects. Our results withstand a variety of robustness checks. To shed light on the mechanisms, we explore the impact of automation on the reduction of household labor income and the rise of unemployment risk. We find that city-level automation decreases labor income levels while increasing the expected unemployment risk of household heads. Our study adds to the literature by documenting automation to be a meaningful predictor of stock market participation.

Keywords: Automation; Stock market participation; Labor income; Unemployment risk; Gig economy

Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pacfin.2025.102888

Author profile

Gecheng Yuan,PhD in Economics from Wuhan University. She joined the School of Finance, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law in 2019. She currently serves as Deputy Secretary of the First Party Branch of the Investment Department and Deputy Director of the Investment Economics Teaching and Research Office. Her research fields include household finance, financial development, and corporate innovation. Her research has been published in journals such as China Industrial Economics, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, and Energy Policy. In 2022, she was awarded a General Project of the Hubei Social Science Fund and a Philosophy and Social Science Research Project of the Hubei Provincial Department of Education.