Digital-green synergy in transition: Exploring the dual synergy transformation impact on corporate ESG performance

IF 9.8 1区经济学 Q1 BUSINESS, FINANCE

International Review of Financial Analysis Pub Date : 2025-07-09 DOI:10.1016/j.irfa.2025.104459

Kunpeng Zhang , Tianyu Zheng , Peng Gao , Yayun Ren

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Abstract

This study investigates the impact of digital-green synergy transformation on corporate Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance. Based on the textual data from annual reports, financial statements, and patent records, we use a coupling coordination degree model to quantify the digital-green synergy transformation level. Our empirical findings reveal that the digital-green synergy transformation significantly enhances ESG performance and positively impacts each E-S-G dimension. Mechanism analysis reveals that the improvement in ESG performance driven by the digital-green synergy transformation is primarily achieved through three key pathways: emission reduction and efficiency improvement; employment expansion and employee benefits improvement; and corporate information environment optimization. Moreover, the positive impact of digital-green synergy transformation on ESG performance is more pronounced in state-owned enterprises and enterprises with more environmentally expert executives. Finally, the positive impact of digital-green synergy transformation on ESG performance is weakened by the financing constraints, and the development of digital finance, green finance, and factor markets significantly strengthen this relationship. Our study contributes to the literature on digital-green synergy transformation and provide a reference for promoting high-quality economic development in China.

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转型中的数字-绿色协同：探讨双协同转型对企业ESG绩效的影响

本研究旨在探讨数字化-绿色协同转型对企业环境、社会与治理绩效的影响。基于年度报告、财务报表和专利记录的文本数据，我们使用耦合协调度模型来量化数字-绿色协同转型水平。实证结果表明，数字化-绿色协同转型显著提升了ESG绩效，并对E-S-G各维度产生了正向影响。机制分析表明，数字化与绿色协同转型驱动的ESG绩效提升主要通过减排和效率提升三个关键途径实现；扩大就业，改善员工福利；以及企业信息环境优化。此外，数字-绿色协同转型对企业ESG绩效的正向影响在国有企业和环境专家高管较多的企业中更为明显。最后，数字-绿色协同转型对企业ESG绩效的正向影响被融资约束削弱，数字金融、绿色金融和要素市场的发展显著强化了这一关系。本文的研究为数字与绿色协同转型的相关文献提供了有益的借鉴，为推动中国经济高质量发展提供了参考。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

International Review of Financial Analysis BUSINESS, FINANCE-

CiteScore

10.30

自引率

9.80%

发文量

366

期刊介绍： The International Review of Financial Analysis (IRFA) is an impartial refereed journal designed to serve as a platform for high-quality financial research. It welcomes a diverse range of financial research topics and maintains an unbiased selection process. While not limited to U.S.-centric subjects, IRFA, as its title suggests, is open to valuable research contributions from around the world.