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AbstractWe estimate the effect of government spending on firm production as measured by the value of sales in developing economies. We contribute to the literature by exploring the relationship between the size and composition of government spending on firm sales by workforce size and market destination of goods using instruments based on political institutions and fractionalization. We use a unique firm‐level dataset across developing economies coupled with national government spending data. After instrumenting for the fiscal policies, we find that an increase in the proportion of spending that alleviates market failures significantly boosts sales output especially in non‐exporting small and medium sized firms but not in large exporting firms. Total government spending positively affects sales output for firms of all sizes and non‐exporters. The effect of the composition of government spending on firm output is more elastic than the effect of the size of government spending. The results are explained by the role of government spending in increasing bank loan access, allowing for technological innovation, and augmenting human capital thereby increasing firm output.

PurposeThe connection between digital manufacturing technologies (Industry 4.0) and the environment has sparked discussions on firms' disclosure of negative information on pollutant emissions and the pursuit of positive environmental outcomes. However, very few studies explore how it relates to a firm's robot usage and its mechanism. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impacts of robot penetration on firms' environmental governance in China.Design/methodology/approachThe ordered probit model (and probit model) are employed and empirically tested with a sample of 1,579 Chinese listed firms from 2010 to 2019.FindingsThe study reveals a negative relationship between robot usage and the disclosure of negative indicators and a U-shaped relationship between robot usage and positive environmental outcomes. Among the sample, nonstate-owned enterprises (SOEs) display unsatisfactory performance, while heavily polluting industries disclose more information on pollutant emissions. The robot–environmental governance nexus is conditional on firm size, capital intensity and local economic development.Originality/valueThe study proposes a fresh view of corporate environmental governance to assess the environmental implications of robot adoption. It also contributes to identifying the curvilinear, moderating and heterogenous effects in the robot–environment nexus. The results provide rich policy implications for the development of industrial intelligence and corporate environmental governance in the circular economy (CE) context.