Carbon reduction consciousness, determinants and value of low-carbon transition: Evidence from textual and empirical analysis of Chinese listed manufacturing enterprises

In this paper, we first construct a carbon reduction consciousness score using a textual analysis method, applied to annual reports of Chinese manufacturing enterprises from 2006 to 2021. Then, we categorize the low-carbon transition level of enterprises based on content analysis to analyze its determinants and value. We find that carbon reduction consciousness can facilitate the low-carbon transition level. Meanwhile, larger and state-owned enterprises are more likely to implement low-carbon transition. Furthermore, we observe that implementing low-carbon transition creates enterprise value, and the effect is stronger for non-state-owned enterprises and sub-samples from 2016 to 2021. In mechanism analysis, we find that a higher low-carbon transition level promotes the increase of research and development (R&D) investment to generate enterprise value. Our study provides theoretical support for strengthening dynamic management of enterprise low-carbon emission reduction process to achieve carbon neutrality and emission peak goals.