Enterprise digital transformation and sustainable productivity

The concept of sustainable development has fostered significant advancements in environmental protection. However, the exploration of enterprise sustainable productivity remains nascent. Based on the data of Chinese listed companies from 2011 to 2022, this paper studies the impact of digital transformation on sustainable productivity. The marginal contribution includes: firstly, the framework of enterprise sustainable productivity is constructed and measured; secondly, it reveals the impact path from multiple aspects, such as innovation, human capital structure, financing constraints and operational efficiency, which enriches relevant literature; thirdly, in addition to robustness test, “broadband China” policy is used as an exogenous impact to verify the stability of the model; finally, from the perspective of enterprise ownership nature, scale and industry differences, the in-depth analysis is made to enhance the universality of the conclusion. Research finding that DT enhances SP through four key mechanisms: fostering innovation, optimizing human capital, easing financing constraints, and improving operational efficiency and the impact of DT on SP is more pronounced in state-owned enterprises, large-scale enterprises, and service-oriented firms.