Digitalization and environmental performance: An empirical analysis of Chinese textile and apparel industry

Abstract

Although digitalization has attracted much attention in research and practice, the implications of firm digitalization for environmental performance are still unclear. Building on the knowledge management perspective, this study focuses on the Chinese traditional high-polluting textile and apparel industry and aims to empirically explore the effects of firm digitalization on environmental performance. We collected secondary data from 553 firm-year observations of 74 listed Chinese textile and apparel firms from the CSMAR database. By panel data analysis, the results highlight a U-shaped relationship between firm digitalization and environmental performance, and strong technical background, financial background and high education levels of the top management team (TMT) positively moderate the relationship. This study contributes to the literature on the digitalization-environmental performance relationship, breaks new ground by focusing on textile and apparel listed firms, and has implications for managers in optimising the TMT structure to increase the returns from digitalization endeavours.