Does Digital Transformation Promote Green and Low-Carbon Synergistic Development in Enterprises? A Dynamic Analysis Based on the Perspective of Chinese Listed Enterprises in the Heavy Pollution Industry

Abstract

Digital transformation has become essential in promoting and upgrading enterprise elements and reshaping the market’s competitive landscape. However, whether digital transformation can further promote green and low-carbon synergistic development is still being determined. Using data from 2008 to 2014 matched between A-share listed enterprises in China’s heavily polluting industries and China’s industrial enterprise pollution emission database (robustness tests were used city panel data from 2013 to 2019 to overcome the timeliness of enterprise-level data), we measured the green total factor productivity, carbon emission efficiency, and joint emission reduction efficiency of heavily polluting listed companies. We examined the dynamic impact of corporate digital transformation on corporate pollution and carbon emission reduction. The empirical results show that (1) digital transformation inhibits the enterprise’s all-green factor productivity, carbon emission efficiency, and joint emission reduction efficiency in the short term but promotes them in the long term. Digital transformation can improve these three efficiencies by enhancing the enterprise’s green technology innovation ability and optimizing factor allocation efficiency. (2) A heterogeneity analysis found that, in the external environment, the increase in environmental regulation enhances the impact of digital transformation on these three efficiencies; in the internal environment, the improvement of the competitiveness of the enterprise’s products strengthens the promotion of digital transformation on the three efficiencies of pollution emission reduction and carbon emission reduction. (3) Further research shows that, in the long run, digital transformation can improve the synergistic effect of the pollution reduction and carbon emission reduction of enterprises. This is instructive for Chinese enterprises to achieve the synergistic development of digital transformation and green, low-carbon production.