Industrial robots reduce carbon emissions in manufacturing through global value chains

As quintessential representatives of advanced production tools in new-quality productive forces, industrial robots not only empower the intelligent transformation of industries but also align with the development philosophy of green and low-carbon growth. This paper, from the perspective of the manufacturing industry's embeddedness in the global value chain, utilizes world input-output tables and data related to the application of industrial robots to conduct an empirical analysis of the impact and mechanisms by which industrial robot application affects carbon emissions in the global manufacturing sector. The results indicate that the application of industrial robots in manufacturing has a significant carbon emission reduction effect, which remains robust after causal identification using instrumental variables and multiple robustness tests; mechanism analysis reveals that the application of industrial robots can not only optimize the allocation of labor factors through substitution effects but also enhance international competitive advantages, improve the division of labor status, and form a global value chain climbing effect, thereby further increasing the level of carbon emission reduction. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the carbon emission reduction effect of industrial robot application is stronger in developed countries, capital-intensive industries, and industries with a higher degree of digitalization. Finally, from the perspective of supply-side technology spillover transmission embedded in the manufacturing industry's global value chain, this paper further clarifies the spatial emission reduction characteristics affected by the application of industrial robots. This paper provides certain policy implications for the global industry's "intelligent manufacturing" and decarbonization development.