Industrial robots and energy vulnerability: The roles of climate change -policy thresholds, institutional flexibility, and technological progress

Energy vulnerability threatens global stability amid supply disruptions, climate shocks, and geopolitical tensions. While industrial robotics shows promise for enhancing energy system resilience, empirical evidence remains scarce. This study investigates the robot-energy vulnerability nexus using panel data from 52 countries (2000–2019), examining direct effects, transmission mechanisms, threshold dynamics, and spatial heterogeneity. Results reveal five key findings. First, industrial robot adoption significantly reduces energy vulnerability. Second, mediation analysis demonstrates that institutional flexibility and technological progress serve as critical transmission channels, with technological progress accounting for the larger share. Third, threshold regression identifies nonlinear effects: robotics impact intensifies substantially once climate policy commitment—measured through adaptation and mitigation—surpasses critical thresholds. Fourth, spatial analysis confirms stronger vulnerability reduction in countries geographically proximate to Japan, reflecting technology spillovers from this innovation hub. Fifth, heterogeneity tests reveal those high-income, densely populated, and advanced digital infrastructure economies experience amplified benefits from robotics deployment. These findings offer actionable insights for policymakers designing differentiated strategies to leverage industrial robotics for enhanced energy security across diverse national contexts.