How does Digital Transformation Affect the Conversion of R&D Investment into Green Technological Innovation in Enterprises ?

Against the backdrop of global climate change and intensified resource con-straints, green technological innovation has become the core driving force for enterprises to achieve sustainable development. Although research and devel-opment(R&D) investment is widely recognized as a key element in promoting green technological innovation in enterprises and has received considerable attention, the moderating role of digital transformation, an emerging techno-logical environment factor, in the process of converting R&D investment into green technological innovation in enterprises has rarely been explored. Based on the resource-based theory and the innovation process theory, this paper aims to deeply investigate the impact of R&D investment on green technological in-novation in enterprises and further analyze how digital transformation plays a moderating role in this process. Through an empirical study of sample data from manufacturing enterprises listed on the A-share market from 2013 to 2024, the following findings were discovered: (1) R&D investment has a significant posi-tive impact on green technological innovation in enterprises, meaning that R&D investment is conducive to promoting both substantive and strategic green technological innovation in enterprises;(2) Digital transformation has a signifi-cant positive impact on green technological innovation in enterprises, indicat-ing that digital transformation is beneficial for enterprises to carry out both strategic and substantive green technological innovation;(3)Digital transfor-mation positively moderates the relationship between R&D investment and green technological innovation, meaning that enterprises with a high degree of digital transformation can more effectively convert R&D investment into sub-stantive and strategic green technological innovation. This research finding re-veals the crucial role of digital transformation in facilitating the conversion of R&D investment into green technological innovation, providing practical guid-ance for enterprises in formulating R&D strategies and digital transformation strategies to accelerate the pace of green technological innovation.