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We use French data over the 1994-2013 period to study how imports of industrial robots affect firm-level outcomes. Guided by a simple model, we develop various empirical strategies to identify the causal effects of robot adoption. Our results suggest that, while demand shocks generate a positive correlation between robot imports and employment at the firm level, exogenous exposure to automation leads to job losses. We also find that robot exposure increases productivity and some evidence that it may increase the relative demand for high-skill professions.

Using a quasi maximum likelihood approach for a semi-structural model, we find highly precise and distinct estimates of consumption responses to idiosyncratic income shocks for different groups of households. Homeowners stratified by liquid wealth exhibit the most dispersion in their marginal propensities to consume. Time-varying estimates support strong patterns of heterogeneity by homeownership status and balance sheet liquidity, with economically and statistically significant increases in the sensitivity of transitory consumption for homeowners, especially those with lower liquid wealth, following the collapse in house prices with the Great Recession. These findings support consumption theories that include housing as an illiquid asset.