Does industrial robot application promote green technology innovation in the manufacturing industry?

Manufacturing green technology innovation is important in achieving climate goals and is the key in promoting sustainable economic development. Using the industrial robot data and manufacturing green technology innovation data from 34 countries from 1993 to 2019, this paper reveals the mechanism and heterogeneity of the application of industrial robots (IRA) affecting green technology innovation (GTI) in the global manufacturing sector. The results indicate the following: (1) The IRA significantly promotes GTI, and the endogenous and robustness tests show that the results are robust. (2) The IRA promotes GTI with a dual-channel mechanism—the mediating effect of green R&D investment and the moderating effect of environmental regulation. (3) There is two-dimensional heterogeneity in terms of the application industries and regions in terms of the green technology innovation effects of industrial robot applications. (4) In addition, the implementation of Industry 4.0 is in favor of the stimulating effects of industrial robots on green technology innovation. Finally, valuable policy advices are proposed based on the empirical results.