The moderate level of digital transformation: from the perspective of green total factor productivity

Abstract

In the context of accelerated development of the digital economy, whether enterprises can drive green total factor productivity (GTFP) through digital technology has become the key to promoting high-quality development of the economy and achieving the goal of “dual-carbon”, However, the relationship between digital transformation and GTFP is still controversial in existing studies. Based on the data of 150 listed companies in China’s A-share energy industry from 2011 to 2021, this study empirically analyzes the impact of digital transformation on GTFP using a fixed-effect model. The study shows an inverted U-shaped nonlinear effect of digital transformation on enterprises’ GTFP, and the conclusion still holds after a series of robustness tests. Mechanism analysis shows that enterprise investment efficiency and labour allocation efficiency play a significant mediating role in the above inverted U-shaped relationship, in which the inverted U-shaped relationship between digital transformation and GTFP mainly stems from the influence of enterprise investment efficiency. Heterogeneity analysis finds that the inverted U-shaped relationship between digital transformation and GTFP of enterprises is more significant in large-scale enterprises, new energy enterprises and enterprises in central and western regions. The study’s findings provide important insights for enterprises to promote digital transformation and realize the green and high-quality development of the energy industry.