Digital Transformation and Green Total Factor Productivity of Heavily Polluting Enterprises: The Mediating Role of M&A Activity and the Moderating Role of Green Innovation

Data, as a novel factor of production, brings new opportunities for enterprise development. Using a sample of Chinese heavily polluting listed companies, this study measured corporate green total factor productivity (GTFP) by employing the Super-SBM Malmquist index and explored the underlying mechanism through which digital transformation affects GTFP.This study employs an OLS benchmark regression model to investigate the impact of corporate digital transformation on green total factor productivity (GTFP). Additionally, it constructs mediation and moderation effect models to examine the mechanism through which digital transformation affects GTFP, specifically assessing the mediating role of M&A activity and the moderating role of green innovation. The research results indicate that digital transformation has a positive promoting effect on corporate green total factor productivity. M&A activity plays a partial mediating role between the two, meaning that the impact of digital transformation on corporate green total factor productivity is indirectly generated through M&A activity. Corporate green innovation plays a positive moderating role between the two, meaning that the higher the level of corporate green innovation, the more significant the promoting effect of digital transformation on corporate green total factor productivity. The research results remain valid after considering robustness tests such as variable substitution, model transformation, Sobel-Goodman, and Bootstrap methods. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the positive effect of digital transformation on corporate green total factor productivity (GTFP) is significantly amplified under three conditions: in non-state-owned enterprises, in regions with superior business environments, and in firms with higher information transparency. For the mediation mechanism, M&A activity exhibits partial mediation in non-state-owned firms and in high-index business environments, but transitions to complete mediation in low-index contexts. Correspondingly, the moderating effect of green innovation is markedly stronger under these same conditions. These contingent findings delineate critical boundary conditions, thereby extending theories of digital transformation and corporate sustainability, while providing empirically grounded insights for regulatory policymakers and corporate managers of heavily polluting enterprises.