Digital Economy, Independent Directors’ Social Capital, and Corporate Environmental Performance:Climate Policy Uncertainty

The growing urgency of environmental sustainability and rapid digital transformation presents both opportunities and challenges for firms. This study explores how the digital economy affects corporate environmental performance (CEP), emphasizing the mediating role of independent directors’ structural holes. Building on resource dependence theory, information asymmetry theory, and structural hole theory. Using panel data from Chinese A-share listed firms (2012–2023), we find that the digital economy significantly enhances CEP, and that directors’ structural holes partially mediate this relationship. Furthermore, climate policy uncertainty weakens, while ESG expectation gaps strengthen, the effect of digitalization on environmental outcomes. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that this effect varies by ownership type, regulatory environment, and environmental strategy. The findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the mechanisms through which digital transformation affects environmental performance, highlighting the importance of board network structures in shaping firms’ responses to sustainability challenges in a digitally evolving institutional context.