Industry 4.0 is a concept that originated from the German industry, and whose essence is the use of technology for efficient production. In business today, the emergence of Industry 4.0 for production, and its related technologies, such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and cyber-physical systems, amongst others, have, however, a negative impact on environmental sustainability as a result of air pollution, the poor discharge of waste, and the intensive use of raw materials, information, and energy. The method used in this study is an analysis of a literature review of manuscripts discussing topics related to Industry 4.0 and environmental sustainability published between 2000 and 2020. There is currently a gap existing between the actual and the desired situation, in that production occurs in a weak sustainability model, and, therefore, this research debates the effects on environmental sustainability and the challenges facing Industry 4.0. Four scenarios are discussed: a deployment scenario, an operation scenario, integration and compliance with sustainable development goals, and a long-run scenario. The results indicate that there is a negative relationship related to the flow of the production process from the inputs to the final product, including raw materials, energy requirements, information, and waste disposal, and their impacts on the environment. However, the integration of Industry 4.0 and the sustainable development goals enhance environmental sustainability to create ecological support that guarantees high environmental performance with a more positive impact than before. This paper will help stakeholders and companies to provide solutions to the existing environmental challenges that can be mediated through adopting new technologies. The novelty of this study is its depiction of Industry 4.0 and its technologies integrated with sustainable development goals to create a sustainable Industry 4.0 combining environmental protection and sustainability.

China’s rapid expansion of digital financial inclusion in the last few years has dramatically augmented the accessibility and affordability of financial services, predominantly serving formerly financially excluded people, and positively contributes to higher economic growth. Despite the importance of digital financial inclusion in promoting economic growth, empirical evidence is relatively thin. Moreover, none of the studies has considered human capital in the nexus. Therefore, this study examines the impact of digital financial inclusion and human capital on China’s provincial economic growth. Unlike previous studies, this study uses the new proxy of digital financial inclusion based on breadth of coverage, depth of usage, and digitalization level. The empirical findings show that digital financial inclusion and human capital significantly affect China’s provincial economic growth. Based on this study’s findings, we recommend investment in human capital development and, at the same time, upgrading digital financial inclusion to attain higher economic growth.

This study investigates the impact of institutional quality (IQ) on the financial development (FD) of 15 emerging and growth-leading economies (EAGLEs). We show that an institutional framework can efficiently handle ethnic fragmentation (ETHF) and can be a source of enhanced FD. The 2SLS results obtained by using ETHF as an instrument of IQ are highly consistent. We also perform three cross-sectional tests and find that openness, national culture, and economic growth significantly moderate FD through their positive interaction with IQ. Our results are robust across two measures of IQ and alternative estimation techniques as well as shed light on the crucial role of institutions in driving the FD of EAGLEs.