Promoting Corporate Low-carbonTransition: Pathway Selection of Low-carbonInnovation Triggered by Digital Finance

Fully exploring the impact of digital finance (DF) on corporate carbon emissions (CCE) can provide a valuable reference for optimizing the supply of digital financial products and promoting corporate low-carbon transitions.Based on the sample of listed companies in China, this study investigates the relationship between DF and CCE and conducts a detailed analysis of the low-carbon technology innovation path.The following was found: (1) DF can significantly reduce CCE, and this effect exhibits a significant positive spatial spillover characteristic.(2) The micro carbon reduction effects of DF are more evident in manufacturing firms and firms with higher executive green cognition.(3) DF can suppress carbon dioxide emissions by enhancing the quantity and quality of corporate low-carbon innovation.Government carbon regulations and corporate ESG rating events can both positively moderate the lowcarbon innovation quantity path, but only mandatory carbon regulations exhibit positive moderating effects on the low-carbon innovation quality path.(4) In terms of technical difficulty, DF can significantly promote substantive low-carbon technology innovation rather than strategic innovation.In terms of technology type, DF can promote innovation in carbon reduction technology rather than zerocarbon and negative-carbon technologies.