A study on the impact of digital economy on green technology innovation of enterprises

Abstract

<p>With global economic transformation and environmental sustainability increasingly taking center stage, the role of digital economy (DE) becomes particularly critical in corporate green technology innovation (GTI). Based on the data of Chinese A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2011 to 2020, this paper explores the interactive effects of DE and GTI, and the mechanism role of data resources (DR) in it, as well as conducts in-depth analyses for different regional and city characteristics. The main findings are as follows: first, DE significantly promotes the process of GTI. Second, from the perspective of regional differences, the promotion effect of DE on green technology innovation is particularly prominent in the eastern and central regions. And analyzed from the city level, its positive effect is most significant in the second-tier cities, but shows a negative effect in the fourth and fifth-tier cities. Further examined from the perspective of resource dependence, DE inhibits green technology innovation in resource-based cities, while showing a significant facilitating effect in non-resource-based cities. Third, DE can further promote green technology innovation by enhancing firms’ DR. Fourth, the study reveals the threshold effect of DR in this relationship: when <em>DR</em> < 2.5649, <em>DE</em> presents an inhibitory effect on green technological innovation, while its promotional effect begins to appear when 2.5649 ≤ <em>DR</em> < 4.2767, and the promotional effect of DE on GTI becomes more obvious when <em>DR</em> ≥ 4.2767.</p>