TITLE:
Intelligent Manufacturing, Enterprise ESG Performance and Green Total Factor Productivity: A Case Study of Strategic Emerging Industries
AUTHORS:
Yan Li, Mu Zhang, Wangjing Xu
KEYWORDS:
Intelligent Manufacturing, Green Technology Innovation, Corporate ESG Performance, Green Total Factor Productivity, Strategic Emerging Industries
JOURNAL NAME:
Theoretical Economics Letters,
Vol.16 No.4,
August
3,
2026
ABSTRACT: As a brand-new production technology, the development and application of intelligent manufacturing can improve corporate development strategies and help firms gain competitive advantages. However, whether its development can further enhance corporate green total factor productivity and through what mechanisms it works are new issues that remain to be clarified. Using data from 523 listed companies in China’s strategic emerging industries from 2013 to 2024, this paper empirically examines the impact of intelligent manufacturing development on corporate green total factor productivity and its underlying mechanisms, and further explores the heterogeneity of this impact. The findings are as follows: First, intelligent manufacturing development positively promotes the improvement of corporate green total factor productivity, and this conclusion remains valid after a series of endogeneity treatments and robustness checks. Second, the level of green technology innovation and corporate ESG performance play a chain mediating role between intelligent manufacturing development and corporate green total factor productivity. Third, the impact of intelligent manufacturing development on corporate green total factor productivity exhibits significant differentiated characteristics with respect to firm ownership type and sub-industry nature; specifically, non-state-owned firms and firms in the new-generation information technology industry and high-end equipment manufacturing industry are more sensitive to intelligent manufacturing development in terms of green total factor productivity. The conclusions of this paper deepen the understanding of the causal relationship between intelligent manufacturing development and corporate green total factor productivity, and provide theoretical guidance for firms to actively develop intelligent manufacturing and enhance green total factor productivity.