The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Economic Resilience: Based on OECD Countries

This study systematically examines the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on national economic resilience and its underlying mechanisms, using member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co‑operation and Development (OECD) as the sample. Based on cross‑national panel data from 2000 to 2023, we construct a composite index to measure economic resilience and employ AI patent stock and industrial robot installations as core explanatory variables, estimated via a fixed‑effects model. The baseline regression results reveal that the level of AI development exerts a significant positive effect on economic resilience. A series of robustness tests—including substituting the dependent variable with the share of industrial value‑added and replacing the explanatory variable with robot installations—confirm the reliability of this core finding. Further heterogeneity analysis indicates that the enabling effect of AI exhibits distinct “institutional thresholds” and “development‑level thresholds,” being more pronounced in countries with higher government AI readiness and higher income levels. Mechanism tests uncover two key mediating pathways: AI not only directly enhances economic resilience but also generates significant indirect effects by driving national digital transformation and stimulating R&D investment. Theoretically and empirically, this study provides new evidence for understanding AI as a general‑purpose technology in strengthening the risk‑resistance and recovery capacity of macroeconomic systems, and offers policy insights for designing differentiated and inclusive AI development strategies to improve economic resilience.