How does corporate digital transformation affect green innovation? Evidence from China's enterprise data

Jian Zhang, Chin-Hsien Yu, Jinsong Zhao and Chi-Chuan Lee

Energy Economics, 2025, vol. 142, issue C

Abstract: Considering that corporate digital transformation plays a crucial role in promoting the sustainable growth of enterprises, the impact of this technological evolution on green innovation warrants additional investigation. Using firm-level data from China for the 2011–2020 period, our study demonstrates the influence of digital transformation on corporate green innovation. Our findings show that environmental information, when gathered through digital technologies, can guide firms in their green innovation efforts and assist in securing financial resources. Heterogeneity analysis suggests that in areas with stricter environmental regulations and non-high-tech firms, digital transformation exhibits a more pronounced ability to bolster green innovative capacity. Evidence also reveals the interplay between digital transformation and investors' green attention, indicating a notable positive influence on corporate green innovation. These insights provide valuable implications for both governments and corporations on how digital transformation can be harnessed to advance green innovation and achieve balanced sustainable development in both the economic and environmental dimensions.

Keywords: Digital transformation; Green innovation; Green attention; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D22 O33 Q55 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140988325000404
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:142:y:2025:i:c:s0140988325000404

DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2025.108217

Access Statistics for this article

Energy Economics is currently edited by R. S. J. Tol, Beng Ang, Lance Bachmeier, Perry Sadorsky, Ugur Soytas and J. P. Weyant

More articles in Energy Economics from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().