Artificial Intelligence and Work Intensity: Evidence From Chinese Listed Firms

Lilong He, Xiangyang Chen and Juan Liu

Review of Development Economics, 2026, vol. 30, issue 3, 2120-2136

Abstract: Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping labor markets at an unprecedented pace. Existing studies on the impact of AI on labor markets primarily focus on extensive margin effects, while its influence on intensive margin labor remains underexplored. This study empirically examines the effect of AI exposure on work intensity in Chinese publicly listed firms by integrating satellite nighttime lights, firm employee occupational structures, and occupation‐level AI exposure data. The results show that AI exposure significantly increases firm work intensity. This finding remains robust after using an instrumental variable approach constructed from AI patent text analysis. Substitution effects, complementarity effects, and adjustment frictions are potential channels through which AI raises firm work intensity. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the above effect is more pronounced in non‐state‐owned enterprises, industries with more intense market competition, service‐sector firms, settings with weaker labor bargaining power, and regions with higher labor market segmentation. This study not only uncovers the complex impact of technological progress on work intensity but also provides important policy implications for building fairer and more sustainable labor relations in the AI era.

Date: 2026
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