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 d...

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Main Authors: Pengyu Yang, Kejia Guo, Jing Jia, Yulin Yin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2024-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0313870
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author Pengyu Yang
Kejia Guo
Jing Jia
Yulin Yin
author_facet Pengyu Yang
Kejia Guo
Jing Jia
Yulin Yin
author_sort Pengyu Yang
collection DOAJ
description 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.
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spelling doaj-art-54e749b919024acfa4c70d26a967af032025-01-08T05:32:57ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032024-01-011912e031387010.1371/journal.pone.0313870Corporate digital transformation and carbon emission intensity: Empirical evidence from listed companies in China.Pengyu YangKejia GuoJing JiaYulin YinDigital 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.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0313870
spellingShingle Pengyu Yang
Kejia Guo
Jing Jia
Yulin Yin
Corporate digital transformation and carbon emission intensity: Empirical evidence from listed companies in China.
PLoS ONE
title Corporate digital transformation and carbon emission intensity: Empirical evidence from listed companies in China.
title_full Corporate digital transformation and carbon emission intensity: Empirical evidence from listed companies in China.
title_fullStr Corporate digital transformation and carbon emission intensity: Empirical evidence from listed companies in China.
title_full_unstemmed Corporate digital transformation and carbon emission intensity: Empirical evidence from listed companies in China.
title_short Corporate digital transformation and carbon emission intensity: Empirical evidence from listed companies in China.
title_sort corporate digital transformation and carbon emission intensity empirical evidence from listed companies in china
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0313870
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AT yulinyin corporatedigitaltransformationandcarbonemissionintensityempiricalevidencefromlistedcompaniesinchina