Does AI boost firm productivity? A web scraping and LLMs approach

[EN] Artificial Intelligence (AI) is widely seen as a transformative technology with the potential to reshape firm productivity across sectors. However, empirical evidence on its actual impact at the firm level remains limited, mainly due to the lack of extensive firm-level data. Leveraging web scra...

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Autores: Pastor-Merino, Ana, Martínez-Barbero, Xavier|||0000-0002-6040-8118, Domenech, Josep|||0000-0002-7302-5810, Vicente, María R.
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2026
País:España
Institución:Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV)
Repositorio:RiuNet. Repositorio Institucional de la Universitat Politécnica de Valéncia
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:riunet.upv.es:10251/232567
Acceso en línea:https://riunet.upv.es/handle/10251/232567
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Firm productivity
Artificial intelligence
Large language models
Web scraping
Instrumental variables
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spelling Does AI boost firm productivity? A web scraping and LLMs approachPastor-Merino, AnaMartínez-Barbero, Xavier|||0000-0002-6040-8118Domenech, Josep|||0000-0002-7302-5810Vicente, María R.Firm productivityArtificial intelligenceLarge language modelsWeb scrapingInstrumental variables[EN] Artificial Intelligence (AI) is widely seen as a transformative technology with the potential to reshape firm productivity across sectors. However, empirical evidence on its actual impact at the firm level remains limited, mainly due to the lack of extensive firm-level data. Leveraging web scraping and Large Language Models (LLMs), this study develops a novel framework to detect and quantify AI adoption among 62,525 Spanish firms. The approach distinguishes between firms that adopt AI and those that integrate it intensively across business functions, constructing both binary and continuous measures of AI use. Using entropy-balanced instrumental variable estimations to address endogeneity, we find that AI-adopting firms exhibit approximately 53%¿55% higher sales and 48% higher value added than comparable non-adopters. Moreover, increasing the intensity of AI use is associated with an even larger productivity premium of 74%¿76% in sales and up to 67% in value added, highlighting the substantial returns from deeper AI integration. In dynamic terms, AI adoption is linked to 9%¿13% faster annual sales growth. These findings provide evidence that AI significantly enhances firm performance, underscoring its role as a key driver of productivity growth.This work was supported by the Generalitat Valenciana, Spain under Grant CIAICO/2023/272; the Agencia Estatal de Investigacion, Spain (MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033) and ERD-F/EU under Grant PID2023-152106OB-I00; and the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia, Spain (PAID-01-24) and FPU24/01116, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion (Spain).ElsevierFacultad de Administración y Dirección de EmpresasDepartamento de Economía y Ciencias SocialesGrupo de Investigación de Economía Internacional y DesarrolloGENERALITAT VALENCIANAAGENCIA ESTATAL DE INVESTIGACIONMINISTERIO DE CIENCIA E INNOVACIONUNIVERSIDAD POLITECNICA DE VALENCIARepositorio Institucional de la Universitat Politècnica de València Riunet20262026-03-01journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501VoRhttp://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85info:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttps://riunet.upv.es/handle/10251/232567reponame:RiuNet. Repositorio Institucional de la Universitat Politécnica de Valénciainstname:Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV)InglésengAgencia Estatal de Investigación http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100011033 Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2021-2023 PID2023-152106OB-I00 SME DYNAMICS: LEVERAGING THE DIGITAL FOOTPRINT FOR SUSTAINABLE FUTURESGeneralitat Valenciana https://doi.org/10.13039/501100003359 CIAICO%2F2023%2F272 DIGITAL FOOTPRINT OF SMES IN THE SUSTAINABILITY TRANSITIONMinisterio de Universidades MIU FPU24%2F01116 LA HUELLA DIGITAL DE LA INNOVACIÓN: UN NUEVO ENFOQUE PARA MEDIR LA COMPETITIVIDAD EMPRESARIALUniversitat Politècnica de València https://doi.org/10.13039/501100004233 PAID-01-24 La huella digital de la innovación: un nuevo enfoque para medir la competitividad empresarialopen accesshttp://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2Reconocimiento - No comercial - Sin obra derivada (by-nc-nd) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:riunet.upv.es:10251/2325672026-06-13T07:49:27Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Does AI boost firm productivity? A web scraping and LLMs approach
title Does AI boost firm productivity? A web scraping and LLMs approach
spellingShingle Does AI boost firm productivity? A web scraping and LLMs approach
Pastor-Merino, Ana
Firm productivity
Artificial intelligence
Large language models
Web scraping
Instrumental variables
title_short Does AI boost firm productivity? A web scraping and LLMs approach
title_full Does AI boost firm productivity? A web scraping and LLMs approach
title_fullStr Does AI boost firm productivity? A web scraping and LLMs approach
title_full_unstemmed Does AI boost firm productivity? A web scraping and LLMs approach
title_sort Does AI boost firm productivity? A web scraping and LLMs approach
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Pastor-Merino, Ana
Martínez-Barbero, Xavier|||0000-0002-6040-8118
Domenech, Josep|||0000-0002-7302-5810
Vicente, María R.
author Pastor-Merino, Ana
author_facet Pastor-Merino, Ana
Martínez-Barbero, Xavier|||0000-0002-6040-8118
Domenech, Josep|||0000-0002-7302-5810
Vicente, María R.
author_role author
author2 Martínez-Barbero, Xavier|||0000-0002-6040-8118
Domenech, Josep|||0000-0002-7302-5810
Vicente, María R.
author2_role author
author
author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv Facultad de Administración y Dirección de Empresas
Departamento de Economía y Ciencias Sociales
Grupo de Investigación de Economía Internacional y Desarrollo
GENERALITAT VALENCIANA
AGENCIA ESTATAL DE INVESTIGACION
MINISTERIO DE CIENCIA E INNOVACION
UNIVERSIDAD POLITECNICA DE VALENCIA
Repositorio Institucional de la Universitat Politècnica de València Riunet
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Firm productivity
Artificial intelligence
Large language models
Web scraping
Instrumental variables
topic Firm productivity
Artificial intelligence
Large language models
Web scraping
Instrumental variables
description [EN] Artificial Intelligence (AI) is widely seen as a transformative technology with the potential to reshape firm productivity across sectors. However, empirical evidence on its actual impact at the firm level remains limited, mainly due to the lack of extensive firm-level data. Leveraging web scraping and Large Language Models (LLMs), this study develops a novel framework to detect and quantify AI adoption among 62,525 Spanish firms. The approach distinguishes between firms that adopt AI and those that integrate it intensively across business functions, constructing both binary and continuous measures of AI use. Using entropy-balanced instrumental variable estimations to address endogeneity, we find that AI-adopting firms exhibit approximately 53%¿55% higher sales and 48% higher value added than comparable non-adopters. Moreover, increasing the intensity of AI use is associated with an even larger productivity premium of 74%¿76% in sales and up to 67% in value added, highlighting the substantial returns from deeper AI integration. In dynamic terms, AI adoption is linked to 9%¿13% faster annual sales growth. These findings provide evidence that AI significantly enhances firm performance, underscoring its role as a key driver of productivity growth.
publishDate 2026
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2026
2026-03-01
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv journal article
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
VoR
http://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85
dc.type.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
format article
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://riunet.upv.es/handle/10251/232567
url https://riunet.upv.es/handle/10251/232567
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
eng
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
language eng
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv Agencia Estatal de Investigación http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100011033 Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2021-2023 PID2023-152106OB-I00 SME DYNAMICS: LEVERAGING THE DIGITAL FOOTPRINT FOR SUSTAINABLE FUTURES
Generalitat Valenciana https://doi.org/10.13039/501100003359 CIAICO%2F2023%2F272 DIGITAL FOOTPRINT OF SMES IN THE SUSTAINABILITY TRANSITION
Ministerio de Universidades MIU FPU24%2F01116 LA HUELLA DIGITAL DE LA INNOVACIÓN: UN NUEVO ENFOQUE PARA MEDIR LA COMPETITIVIDAD EMPRESARIAL
Universitat Politècnica de València https://doi.org/10.13039/501100004233 PAID-01-24 La huella digital de la innovación: un nuevo enfoque para medir la competitividad empresarial
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
Reconocimiento - No comercial - Sin obra derivada (by-nc-nd)
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
dc.rights.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
Reconocimiento - No comercial - Sin obra derivada (by-nc-nd)
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:RiuNet. Repositorio Institucional de la Universitat Politécnica de Valéncia
instname:Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV)
instname_str Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV)
reponame_str RiuNet. Repositorio Institucional de la Universitat Politécnica de Valéncia
collection RiuNet. Repositorio Institucional de la Universitat Politécnica de Valéncia
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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score 15.812455

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