The Adoption of Robotics by Government Agencies: Evidence from Crime Labs

Abstract

The adoption and use of emerging and smart technologies like robotics is a key concern as the advanced economies undergo the latest technological revolution. While firms and factories often adopt technologies like robotics and advanced manufacturing techniques at a fast rate, government agencies are often seen as lagging in their adoption of such tools. We offer evidence about the adoption of robotics from the case of American crime laboratories. Using data from the census of crime labs, we show that the adoption of such technologies depends on traditional drivers of agency capacity and demand: budgets, the agency’s task environment, and its relative level of professionalism. Together these findings suggest that agencies can be early adopters of such technologies if they have the capacity (and need) to do so.

Keywords: robotics, public administration, government, DNA, adoption, technology, crime, laboratory

JEL Classification: A1, A2, K1, K2, L1, L2