Digital Regulation and Environmental Performance: Evidence from Smart Environmental Monitoring Platforms in China

This study investigates the impact of Smart Environmental Monitoring Platforms (SEMPs) on corporate pollution emissions in China. We use the staggered provincial rollouts of SEMPs from 2017 to 2024 as a quasi-natural experiment and apply a difference-in-differences approach to identify causal effects. The findings indicate that SEMPs reduce corporate pollution emissions by curbing environmental greenwashing and stimulating green innovation. This effect is more pronounced for non-state-owned enterprises, small and medium-sized firms, financially constrained firms, and firms characterized by dispersed ownership, low managerial ownership, and low audit quality. Moreover, stronger regulatory intensity and more developed green finance further amplify this effect.