Research on the Impact of Digital Transformation on Enterprise Green Innovation

Amid escalating global climate change and environmental challenges, contemporary organizations now prioritize environmentally-conscious technological advancements as a pivotal mechanism to attain enduring ecological equilibrium. While existing studies have explored the role of digitalization on eco-friendly innovation, the mediating role of ESG score between the two is not discussed enough in the prior scholarly investigations, which is mostly from a singular viewpoint analysis and lacks systematic empirical support. This paper takes China's A-share listed companies from 2016 to 2023 as samples to explore the impact mechanism of digital transformation on corporate green innovation and introduces ESG score as a mediating variable to reveal its impact path. The findings indicate that digital transformation has a notable impact on enhancing the level of green innovation within enterprises, and ESG score serves as a moderating factor in this sequence of events. Heterogeneity test shows that digital transformation plays a more significant role in promoting green innovation in non-state-owned enterprises. This research offers an innovative viewpoint for comprehending the intrinsic linkage between the shift to digital and eco-innovative advancements and provides a theoretical basis and practical reference for enterprises to realize green transformation through digital technology.