Impact of digital transformation of enterprises on their choice of green innovation models

doi:10.19571/j.cnki.1000-2995.2023.12.007

Abstract

Abstract: The digital transformation and green transformation of enterprises are key paths to achieve high-quality development in China. Exploring how the digital transformation of enterprises affects their green innovation model holds both theoretical significance and practical insights. Amid digital transformation, enterprises face the critical issue of how to allocate their limited innovation resources. Will they prioritize breaking free from resource constraints, environmental limitations, or from both? The choice between energy-saving and environmentally-friendly green innovation becomes an urgent matter necessitating practical and theoretical exploration. However, few scholars in the academia have delved into this crucial issue. In order to investigate these issues, this study differentiated the content and models of green innovation, using energy-saving and environmentally-friendly green innovation models as the foundation. Against the backdrop of the new generation of information technology and digital technologies leading the development of green and low-carbon technologies, and with a focus on the Chinese context, this paper systematically examined the impact of digital transformation on the choice of enterprise green innovation models. This analysis was based on the panel data from Chinese A-share listed companies from 2002 to 2021, thus making a comprehensive investigation into the influencing mechanisms involved.The study′s findings are as follows: (1) Digital transformation significantly boosts enterprises′ choice of energy-saving green innovation, which is mainly driven using digital underlying technologies. This conclusion still holds after considering endogeneity issues and a series of robustness tests such as replacing the green innovation level indicator and excluding specific samples. (2) Green R&D investment in digitization plays a mediating role in digital transformation and the choice of green innovation models. Digital transformation prompts enterprises to invest more digital resources in energy-saving green R&D, which in turn promotes the choice of energy-saving green innovation. (3) Market competition and government innovation subsidies strengthen the role of digital transformation in influencing the choice of energy-saving green innovation. Meanwhile, informal environmental regulations imposed by the public strengthen the impact of digital transformation on the choice of environmentally-friendly green innovation. Heterogeneity analysis showed that the impact of digital transformation on promoting the choice of energy-saving green innovation is particularly pronounced in the manufacturing sector with a high demand for green technological transformation.This study has several theoretical significances: (1) Our conclusions provided additional confirmation for the previously posited perspective that “digital capabilities have differing impacts on various facets of green transformation, including environmental management, improved resource utilization efficiency, and alterations in energy structure”. It also classified green innovation in terms of energy-saving and environmentally-friendly and clarifies the impact of digital transformation on enterprises′ choice of green innovation models. (2) This study revealed the mechanisms through which digital transformation influences the choice of green innovation models. (3) We incorporated the factors of the triadic co-management of environmental governance into the unified analytical framework. Within this framework, we examined the moderating effects of market competition, informal social environmental regulations, and government innovation subsidies, thus effectively avoiding the fragmented limitations present in current research.The study proposed the following policy insights: (1) The triadic co-management system should be comprehensively considered to promote the coordinated development of energy-saving and environmentally-friendly green innovation. (2) Manufacturing enterprises, especially heavily polluting enterprises, should be promoted to carry out digital transformation. (3) Deep integration of digitalization and greening should be facilitated, the foundational role of digital technology in the green development of enterprises should be actively leveraged and the application of data elements in the core processes of enterprise production should be encouraged to comprehensively reduce energy consumption.

Key words: digitalization, green innovation, energy-saving, environmentally friendly, innovation model

Ma Wenjia, Zhang Hongzheng, Chen Jin. Impact of digital transformation of enterprises on their choice of green innovation models[J]. Science Research Management, 2023, 44(12): 61-70.

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