Can “Internet Plus” Enhance the Green Transition? The Moderating Roles of Environmental Regulation and Sewage Fee-to-Tax

Abstract

Implementing green transition with high quality has been confirmed as a critical approach to achieve sustainable development worldwide. This study focuses on how “Internet plus” affects the green transition of manufacturing companies. Based on the research sample of A-share-listed manufacturing companies from 2015 to 2020, the study concludes that “Internet plus” can significantly improve green transition, and the reliability of the above results is confirmed through endogeneity analysis and robustness tests. The result of the heterogeneity analysis suggests that “Internet plus” has a more significant promotion effect on state-owned companies, eastern regions, and high-tech industries. The result of the in-depth analysis indicates that “Internet plus” can contribute to green transition by boosting green innovation. In addition, environmental regulation and sewage fee-to-tax have significant positive effects in regulating the above relationships, further confirming that the enactment of the Environmental Protection Tax increases the regulating effect. This study provides a new theoretical framework for the intrinsic mechanism of “Internet plus” affecting the green transition of manufacturing companies.