Effective place-based policies need to deliver desired spatial economic cohesion while minimizing resource waste and secondary distortions.

Differences between data sources make it challenging to identify the leaders and laggards in the adoption of industrial robots.

Novel plant-level data from Germany sheds light on the current status and the potential determinants of robot use in manufacturing factories.

Automation and reshoring mitigate risks. Industrial policies aiming to reduce dependence on global supply chains could accelerate the trend.