Governing Digital-Green Transitions: A Configurational Synthesis of Employment Outcomes

IF 1.7 Q2 PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Journal of Public Affairs Pub Date : 2026-09-14 DOI:10.1002/pa.70157

Bora Ly

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Abstract

Digital transformation and environmental sustainability are often framed as mutually reinforcing, yet their employment effects remain uneven across institutional and economic contexts. This study examines why digital transformation produces divergent employment outcomes in green transitions. Positioned within public affairs scholarship, this analysis examines how government policy, public-sector digitalization, firm-level green innovation, and citizen-worker outcomes intersect in the digital-green employment nexus. Drawing on a systematic review and configurational synthesis of 50 studies published between 2015 and 2025, the analysis distinguishes digital transformation across firm-level capabilities, public digital governance, and regional digital infrastructure. The findings show that employment outcomes depend on the alignment of institutional quality, digital capability, workforce skills, industrial structure, and innovation mechanisms. Green innovation operates as a conditional pathway rather than a universal mediator. Four ideal-type configurations are identified. The study contributes a public affairs framework linking governance capacity, policy credibility, business adaptation, and citizen trust in contemporary transition policy debates.

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治理数字绿色转型：就业结果的配置综合

数字化转型和环境可持续性通常被认为是相辅相成的，但它们对就业的影响在制度和经济背景下仍然不平衡。本研究探讨了数字化转型在绿色转型中产生不同就业结果的原因。本分析立足于公共事务学术，考察了政府政策、公共部门数字化、企业层面的绿色创新和公民-工人成果如何在数字-绿色就业关系中相互交织。通过对2015年至2025年间发表的50项研究的系统回顾和配置综合，该分析区分了企业层面能力、公共数字治理和区域数字基础设施的数字化转型。研究结果表明，就业结果取决于制度质量、数字化能力、劳动力技能、产业结构和创新机制的一致性。绿色创新是一种有条件的途径，而不是普遍的中介。确定了四种理想型配置。该研究提供了一个公共事务框架，将当代转型政策辩论中的治理能力、政策可信度、企业适应性和公民信任联系起来。

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

Journal of Public Affairs PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION-

CiteScore

7.10

自引率

3.80%

发文量

期刊介绍： The Journal of Public Affairs provides an international forum for refereed papers, case studies and reviews on the latest developments, practice and thinking in government relations, public affairs, and political marketing. The Journal is guided by the twin objectives of publishing submissions of the utmost relevance to the day-to-day practice of communication specialists, and promoting the highest standards of intellectual rigour.