Shiying Zhang (Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen) & Peng Zhang (The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen) have posted The Dark Side of Automation: Robot and Crime on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
This study presents the first empirical evidence on the impact of industrial robot adoption on criminal activities, utilizing a comprehensive dataset from more than 2 million court documents in China. We find that a one-standard-deviation increase in robot exposure leads to a 12.8%, a 15.5%, and a 9.1% increase in violent, property, and fraud crimes respectively. These results are likely driven by a decrease in the employment-to-population ratio, an increase in drinking frequency, and the deteriorating mental health of individuals. Finally, we find that unemployment insurance is effective in mitigating the adverse impact of robots on crimes.