The Relationship between International Trade in Industry 4.0 Products and National-Level Sustainability Performance: An Empirical Investigation

In this study, we assessed how Industry 4.0 (I4.0) adoption influences a country's sustainability performance. Departing from firm-level analyses, we studied international trade of products pertaining to Advanced Industrial Robotics (AIR), Additive Manufacturing (AM), and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and advanced the argument that the intensity of import of these products demonstrates an aspiring level of I4.0 adoption, and the revealed comparative advantage of export of these products demonstrates an advanced level of I4.0 adoption. Consequently, we studied the influence of these factors on national performance in three manufacturing-relevant SDGs, i.e., SDG 8, SDG 9, and SDG 12. Our empirical analysis showed mixed results. Adoption of I4.0 led to sustainable manufacturing practices that further enhanced national-level performance in relevant SDGs, especially in advanced countries. We also identified opportunities for further research on how adoption of I4.0 could avoid unsustainable digitalization and lead to circular economy practices.