Robot adoption and corporate pollution emissions: Evidence from China

Rui Xu, Hao Zhang, Minghui Han and Leo Yang Yang

Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, 2025, vol. 90, issue C

Abstract: This study examines whether and how industrial robot adoption affects corporate pollution emissions. Using a sample of 163,301 firm-year observations from the Chinese industrial enterprises for the period 2004–2014, we find that firm's robot adoption is positively related to pollution emissions reduction. Further mechanism tests show that the adoption of robots in production can improve a firm's productivity and alleviate a firm's financial constraint, thereby increasing the firm's pollution emissions reduction. In addition, we find that the above-mentioned effect of robot adoption on a firm's pollution emissions reduction is more pronounced for firms headquartered in regions with strong environmental regulations, firms that are high efficiency of pollution treatment and high technology-intensive, firms that have gone public and state-owned enterprises. Altogether, this study provides the first micro evidence on the relationship between robot adoption and corporate pollution emissions, providing significant implications for the world's sustainable development.

Keywords: Robot adoption; Pollution emissions; Productivity; Financial constraint; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:pacfin:v:90:y:2025:i:c:s0927538x24003998

DOI: 10.1016/j.pacfin.2024.102647

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