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. 2023 Jan 25;20(3):2178.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph20032178.

Impact of Digital Transformation on Enterprise Carbon Intensity: The Moderating Role of Digital Information Resources

Guoge Yang  1   2 , Fengyi Wang  1   2 , Feng Deng  1   2 , Xianhong Xiang  1   2
Affiliations

Impact of Digital Transformation on Enterprise Carbon Intensity: The Moderating Role of Digital Information Resources

Guoge Yang et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

In the context of China's "digital power" strategy, the realization of a green and low-carbon shift in manufacturing has become a necessary condition to promote the economy, and the digital factor has increasingly become a new driving force. The text mining and IPCC methods were used to measure manufacturing enterprise digitalization and the level of enterprise carbon emission intensity from 2011 to 2021, respectively. This study then explored the impact of digitalization on manufacturing enterprise carbon emission intensity based on the least squares method model and instrumental variable method model. This research comes to three conclusions. (1) Digitalization can significantly reduce the enterprise carbon emission intensity of China's manufacturing industry, and the influence shows a "marginal increase." (2) Notably, a mechanism analysis indicates the intermediary effect sizes of four crucial intermediaries: green technology innovation > financing constraint > information asymmetry > energy use efficiency. Interestingly, digital information resources positively moderate the positive effect of digitalization on carbon emission intensity through three paths: financing constraints, green technology innovation, and information asymmetry. (3) The influence shows evident signs of heterogeneity-as environmental regulation, financial development, executive education, and R&D quality advance, the inhibiting effect of digitalization on enterprise carbon emission intensity becomes more pronounced. Finally, corresponding policy suggestions are proposed.

Keywords: carbon emission intensity; digital information resources; digital transformation; financing constraints; green innovation; information asymmetry.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Mechanism diagram of the impact of digitalization on carbon emission intensity.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Reconciliation of digital information resources.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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