Digital Product Imports, Technology Absorptive Capacity and Corporate Pollution Reduction: Empirical Evidence from Chinese Companies

This study investigates the impact of digital product imports (DPI) on firms’ pollution reduction. The findings show that DPI reduces firms’ emission intensities of SO2 and COD. This decline is driven by firms’ production-end effects of energy efficiency improvement and technological innovation, together with enhanced end-of-pipe treatment capacity. The effectiveness of DPI in reducing pollution is more substantial in regions with high levels of digital infrastructure, higher levels of human capital, technology-intensive industries, and non-state-owned enterprises. This distinction can be attributed to the disparities in technological absorptive capacity. Additionally, the diversification of DPI also significantly fosters corporate pollution reduction.