Intelligent Manufacturing and Pollution Emissions from Chinese Manufacturing Firms: Theories and Mechanisms

Energy conservation and emission reduction are essential for China’s economy to achieve sustainable development. This paper integrates industrial robots and pollution emissions into a heterogeneous firm model to theoretically analyze the impact and mechanism of industrial robots on pollution emissions of listed manufacturing firms. Using data from a sample of listed manufacturing firms over the period 2012–2022, an econometric model is constructed and empirically tested. The results of the study show that industrial robots have had a significant impact on the emission intensity of the manufacturing industry through technological progress and innovation effects, while firms’ pollution levels, regional environmental regulatory intensity, ownership type, and factor intensity type have heterogeneous effects on abatement. In view of this, the application of industrial robots should be promoted according to local conditions, the development of differentiated environmental regulatory policies, and targeted measures to give full play to the emission reduction effect of industrial robots, to synergistically promote a high level of ecological environmental protection and sustainable economic and social development by accelerating the greening and intelligent transformation of China’s manufacturing enterprises.