How Digital Transformation Affects Corporate Environmental Governance — Evidence from Listed Manufacturing Companies in China

How to promote enterprises to actively engage in environmental governance is a hot topic of common concern in both academia and practice. Against the backdrop of the booming digital economy, the digital transformation of enterprises is driving traditional technological innovation and reshaping corporate resources and capabilities, but its impact on corporate environmental governance behaviors remains to be verified. Based on panel data of China A-share listed manufacturing companies from 2014 to 2023, this study empirically tests the influence of corporate digital transformation on environmental governance using a two-way fixed effects model. The findings indicate that the higher the degree of digital transformation, the higher the level of environmental protection investment, suggesting that digital transformation has a positive driving effect on corporate environmental governance behaviors. Further mechanism analysis shows that digital transformation primarily promotes corporate environmental protection investment by improving internal control quality and alleviating exogenous financing constraints. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the driving effect of digital transformation on corporate environmental governance behaviors is more pronounced in less competitive markets and large-scale enterprises. The conclusions of this study provide policy and management insights for fully leveraging the environmental governance effects of corporate digital transformation, thereby promoting the green transition of manufacturing enterprises.