The effect of digital transformation on corporate environmental performance

Abstract

Since entering the 21st century, digital development has gradually become a new development trend, and digital transformation plays a key role in the high-quality development of enterprises. Based on the data of listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen A-shares from 2018 to 2022 as a sample, this paper explores the effect of digital transformation on corporate environmental performance. The study shows that corporate digital transformation can significantly improve corporate environmental performance, and the conclusion still holds after a series of robustness tests. The mechanism test finds that financing constraints negatively moderate the relationship between digital transformation and corporate environmental performance. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the effect of digital transformation on firms' environmental performance is more significant in SOEs and large-scale firms. The study demonstrates the relationship between enterprise digital transformation and environmental performance, and provides relevant suggestions from the government and enterprise levels for carrying out digital transformation and exerting the role of digital transformation in promoting enterprise environmental performance, so as to promote the realization of sustainable development.