How does customer enterprise digitalization improve the green total factor productivity of state-owned suppliers: From the supply chain perspective

• The intensity of environmental regulation acts as a speed bump in improving the GTFP . • The enterprise digitalization was analyzed from the perspective of the supply chain . • Implicit costs and the proportion of highly educated human resources are key factors. • The GTFP of state-owned upstream suppliers improved by the digitalization. Environmental problems arising from global industrialization highlight the urgent need to green supply chains. However, the intensification of digitalization and global supply chain risks underscore the leading role of state-owned suppliers. From the supply chain perspective, this study analyzes the impact of the digitalization of downstream customer enterprises on the green total factor productivity (GTFP) of state-owned upstream suppliers using data on Chinese listed companies from 2007 to 2022. The benchmark regression shows that the digitalization of downstream customer enterprises significantly improves the GTFP of state-owned upstream suppliers. Mechanism testing shows that the digitalization of downstream customer enterprises promotes the GTFP of state-owned suppliers by reducing implicit costs and increasing the proportion of highly educated human resources. In improving the GTFP of state-owned suppliers, the external contractual environment, internal environmental responsibility, and market competitiveness act as “accelerators,” whereas the intensity of environmental regulation acts as a “speed bump” in the short term. In contrast to existing research, which mainly focuses on the impact of enterprise digitalization on the production efficiency of internal or upstream suppliers, this study facilitates the understanding of the pillar role of state-owned suppliers in the national economy and their stabilizing function in the supply chain.