Data governance, financial environmental regulation, and enterprise digital transformation

• Data governance positively impacts enterprise digital transformation. • Financial regulation positively influences enterprise digital transformation. • Financial regulation moderates the link between data governance and transformation. This study, based on data from listed companies and provinces between 2015 and 2023, examines the relationships among data governance, financial environmental regulation, and enterprise digital transformation. The research finds that both data governance and financial environmental regulation have a positive impact on enterprise digital transformation. Further analysis reveals that the effects of data governance and financial environmental regulation on digital transformation vary among enterprises with different levels of innovation capability. In addition, the financial environmental regulation significantly moderates the relationship between data governance and digital transformation; notably, the influence of data governance on digital transformation is more pronounced in environments with stringent financial regulation.