Corporate digital transformation and carbon emission intensity: Empirical evidence from listed companies in China

Digital transformation is crucial for sustainable development of enterprises and for addressing the conundrum of "efficiency and environment". Utilizing a dataset from A-share listed companies in China from 2007 to 2021, this paper investigates the direct impact, underlying mechanism and driving effect of enterprise digital transformation on carbon emission intensity. The findings reveal that: (1) At this stage, digital transformation in listed companies effectively reduces their carbon intensity, but the relationship between the two is not linear; instead, it exhibits a U-shaped trajectory, initially decreasing then increasing. (2) Analysis of mechanism indicates that costs associated with environmental governance and innovations in green technology serve as critical pathways through which corporate digital transformation influences carbon intensity. (3) The analysis of driving effect suggests that the digital transformation significantly curtails the carbon emission intensity of both upstream and downstream enterprises as well as those within the same industry and geographical region, through industrial linkage and the cohort effect. (4) Heterogeneity analysis elucidates that the digital transformation of enterprises in regions with stronger government environmental regulations has a markedly more pronounced effect on reducing the carbon emission intensity. Furthermore, the carbon emission reduction effect of digital transformation is more potent in capital-intensive and technology-intensive enterprises compared to labor-intensive enterprises. This paper offers valuable insights for fostering enterprise digital transformation and promoting green, low-carbon development aligned with the "dual-carbon" strategy.