Unlocking Carbon Emissions and Total Factor Productivity Nexus: Causal Moderation of Ownership Structures via Entropy Methods in Chinese Enterprises

Amidst global imperatives for environmental sustainability, this study investigates the nexus between carbon emissions reduction (CER), ownership structures, and total factor productivity (TFP) in Chinese enterprises-recognized as vital economic drivers facing carbon emissions pressures. Based on the theoretical frameworks of innovation offsets, agency cost theory, and upper echelons theory, with data from CSMAR (2009-2023), we proposed a positive effect of CER on TFP while examining the moderating roles of ownership structure metrics: chairman shareholding ratio, manager shareholding ratio, and ownership-control separation ratio. TFP estimation employed dual approaches: mean consolidation (TFP-Mean) and entropy weighting (TFP-Entropy) methods. The results confirmed CER exerts significantly positive impacts on TFP, with ownership structures demonstrating statistically significant yet directionally heterogeneous moderation effects. Heterogeneity analysis reveals heightened TFP sensitivity to carbon emission initiatives among private enterprises, foreign-owned enterprises, and small enterprises. Notably, the entropy weighting method exhibits substantial comparative advantages in TFP measurement. These findings underscore that advancing TFP necessitates simultaneously optimizing carbon emissions efficiency and ownership governance.