How digital transformation facilitates ESG performance to heavy polluting enterprises:A panel fsQCA based on national big data comprehensive pilot zones

Li Jing, Li Qianqiang, Chen Yantai and An Qi

Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 2025, vol. 221, issue C

Abstract: Digital transformation presents a promising pathway to improving Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance in heavy-polluting enterprises within emerging economies. However, it also introduces potential drawbacks, such as bounded rationality crowding-out effects and a focus on short-term financial goals. Therefore, to fully understand its multifaceted impact on ESG performance, a comprehensive analysis through the lens of complex systems management is crucial. This study applies panel data fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (PD-fsQCA) to examine heavy-polluting enterprises in China's national big data comprehensive pilot zones. Grounded in the Technological-Organizational-Environmental (TOE) framework, the analysis uncovers the intricate causal relationships between digital transformation and ESG performance. The findings reveal that factors such as digital strategies (DS), digital technology (DT), internal control quality (IC), enterprise environmental attention allocation (EA), regional environmental regulation (ER), and public environmental concern (PEC) interact in multiple configurations to shape ESG outcomes, including “IC & DT” Driven, “ER & DS” Driven, and “DT & DS” Driven models. These pathways demonstrate significant temporal and organizational heterogeneity, highlighting the diverse impacts of digital transformation on ESG performance across different timeframes and enterprise contexts.

Keywords: Digital transformation; ESG performance; Heavy polluting enterprises; PD-fsQCA (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:tefoso:v:221:y:2025:i:c:s004016252500397x

DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2025.124366

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