Digital Transformation and Energy Consumption: Efficiency Gains or Cost Pressures?

Based on microdata from China's A share industrial listed enterprises during 2011-2022, this study empirically examines the causal effect of digital transformation on energy consumption intensity and its underlying transmission channels.The findings reveal that digital transformation significantly reduces industrial energy intensity, with more pronounced effects observed in firms with less distorted factor markets, higher internal control quality, and lower agency costs.Mechanism analyses demonstrate that enhancing total factor productivity serves as the key mediating channel through which digitalization achieves energy conservation.Furthermore, both external investor sentiment and internal green governance performance exert significant positive moderating effects on digitalization's energy-saving outcomes.This research provides novel empirical evidence for understanding the micro-level mechanisms driving industrial green transition through digital technologies.