Can Digital Transformation Improve the Firms' Carbon Performance?
She Qunzhi, Lu Ling, Ma Yanbai, Fang Kai
摘要：随着数字经济蓬勃发展，数字化转型已成为企业提升可持续竞争优势的关键路径。在新发展阶段，企业数字化能否推动其实现绿色低碳转型值得深入研究。本文2009—2020年上市公司为研究样本，利用面板数据固定效应模型考察了中国企业数字化转型对碳绩效的影响机制。结果表明，数字化转型与企业碳绩效显著正相关，企业数字化转型有利于提升其碳绩效。这一结果具有显著的行业异质性，数字化转型在提高能源密集型行业的碳绩效方面具有更显著的作用。机制分析发现，数字化转型中企业的碳绩效存在同群效应，单个企业的碳绩效水平会随着同地区同行业其他企业碳绩效水平的变化而同向变化；数字化转型主要通过 促进企业绿色技术创新和提高企业生产效率来实现企业碳绩效的提升。本文研究结论表明应鼓励企业加快数字化转型，为企业通过数字化手段降低碳排放量、提高碳绩效，进而促进企业向绿色低碳转型具有重要的理论和实践意义。
关键词：数字化转型；碳绩效；同群效应；绿色技术创新；企业生产效率
Abstract: With the booming development of the digital economy, digital transformation has become a key path for enterprises to enhance their sustainable competitive advantages. In the new stage of development, it is worth conducting in-depth research on whether digitalization of companies can promote their green and low-carbon transformation. This article takes A-share listed companies from 2009 to 2020 as the research sample, and uses a panel data fixed effects model to examine the impact mechanism and peer effect of digital transformation on carbon performance of Chinese companies. The results indicate that digital transformation is significantly positively correlated with corporate carbon performance, and digital transformation of companies is beneficial for improving their carbon performance. This result has significant industry heterogeneity effects, and digital transformation has a more significant role in improving the carbon performance of energy intensive industries. The mechanism analysis reveals that there is a peer effect in the carbon performance of companies in digital transformation, and the carbon performance level of a single company will change in the same direction as the carbon performance level of other companies in the same region and industry. Digital transformation mainly achieves the improvement of corporate carbon performance by promoting green technology innovation and improving production efficiency. These findings aim to encourage companies to accelerate their digital transformation, which has important theoretical and practical significance for companies to reduce carbon emissions and improve carbon performance through digital means, thereby promoting their transition to green and low-carbon.
Keywords: Digital Transformation; Carbon Performance; Peer Group Effect; Green Technology Innovation; Firm Production Efficiency
基金项目：国家社会科学基金重大项目“‘双碳’目标下区域协同减排机制与调控策略研究”（22&ZD108）和甘肃省青年科技基金计划“绿色投资对甘肃省环境绩效的影响机制研究”（22JR5RA310）。
