Digital finance, digital transformation and new quality productivity of heavy polluting enterprises

Heavily polluting industries constitute a vital component of China’s industrial system, serving as a key foundation for cultivating new growth drivers and stimulating ‘new vitality’, as well as being pivotal for achieving enhancement in new quality productivity (NQP). Using a sample of Chinese A-share listed heavily polluting enterprises from 2011 to 2021, we measure the NQP of these enterprises and explore the impact mechanisms and effects of digital finance on NQP. The findings reveal that digital finance can significantly promote NQP enhancement in heavily polluting enterprises, with this effect primarily stemming from increased digitization levels. Mechanism analysis indicates that digital finance facilitates NQP leaps in heavily polluting enterprises by driving digital transformation in both strategic management and applied technologies. Furthermore, green finance and government-enterprise connections strengthen digital finance’s positive effect on NQP, while economic policy uncertainty weakens this effect. These results provide valuable empirical evidence for accelerating the green transformation of heavily polluting enterprises and refining relevant financial policies.