IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i24p13983-d705243.html

Can Corporate Digitalization Promote Green Innovation? The Moderating Roles of Internal Control and Institutional Ownership

Author

Listed:
  • Dukangqi Li

    (Department of Business Management, School of Management, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China)

  • Weitao Shen

    (Department of Business Management, School of Management, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China)

Abstract

This study examined the impact of corporate digitalization on green innovation using data concerning A-share companies listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets from 2012 to 2018. We measured the degree of corporate digitalization through a text analysis of annual reports and empirically tested its impact on green innovation using a panel data fixed effects model. We found that digital transformation can improve green innovation levels, especially when internal control is weak and institutional ownership is low. These findings support the theoretical expectation that digitalization can strengthen supervision. The relationship between digitization and corporate governance mechanisms was proved to be complementary. Additionally, the analysis of economic consequences showed that digitalization improves financial performance by promoting green innovation. The results clarify the determinants of corporate green innovation and provide relevant insights for increasing the value of corporate digital transformation.

Suggested Citation

  • Dukangqi Li & Weitao Shen, 2021. "Can Corporate Digitalization Promote Green Innovation? The Moderating Roles of Internal Control and Institutional Ownership," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-22, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:24:p:13983-:d:705243
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/24/13983/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/24/13983/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Carrión-Flores, Carmen E. & Innes, Robert, 2010. "Environmental innovation and environmental performance," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 59(1), pages 27-42, January.
    2. Abdul Karim Feroz & Hangjung Zo & Ananth Chiravuri, 2021. "Digital Transformation and Environmental Sustainability: A Review and Research Agenda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-20, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Valeria Costantini & Francesco Crespi & Giovanni Marin & Elena Paglialunga, 2016. "Eco-innovation, sustainable supply chains and environmental performance in European industries," LEM Papers Series 2016/19, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    2. repec:hal:journl:hal-03650216 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Xinpeng Gao & Sufeng Li, 2025. "A Dynamic Evolution and Spatiotemporal Convergence Analysis of the Coordinated Development Between New Quality Productive Forces and China’s Carbon Total Factor Productivity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-28, April.
    4. Long Xue & Qianyu Zhang & Xuemang Zhang & Chengyu Li, 2022. "Can Digital Transformation Promote Green Technology Innovation?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-20, June.
    5. Zheng, Fengyi & Jiang, Jiahui & Ma, Jing & Liou, Jennhae, 2024. "Capital market opening, digital transformation and corporate risk-taking ——empirical evidence from Shanghai Shenzhen-Hong Kong stock connect," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 96(PB).
    6. Yousaf, Umair Bin & Ullah, Irfan & Jiang, Junchen & Wang, Man, 2022. "The role of board capital in driving green innovation: Evidence from China," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(C).
    7. Francesco Vona & Giovanni Marin & Davide Consoli, 2019. "Measures, drivers and effects of green employment: evidence from US local labor markets, 2006–2014," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 19(5), pages 1021-1048.
    8. Ru-Jen Lin & Rong-Huei Chen & Thao-Minh Ho, 2013. "Market Demand, Green Innovation, and Firm Performance: Evidence from Hybrid Vehicle Industry," Diversity, Technology, and Innovation for Operational Competitiveness: Proceedings of the 2013 International Conference on Technology Innovation and Industrial Management,, ToKnowPress.
    9. Forget Chaterera-Zambuko, 2025. "Environmental Sustainability in the United Arab Emirates’ Digital Records Management Landscape: An Analysis of Strategies and Policies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(14), pages 1-18, July.
    10. Fan, Yali & Wang, Xiuzhong & Li, Zhuoran & Wu, Wei, 2025. "From harm to Hope: How green innovation alleviates environmental injustice triggered by non-green innovation," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    11. Perino, Grischa & Requate, Till, 2012. "Does more stringent environmental regulation induce or reduce technology adoption? When the rate of technology adoption is inverted U-shaped," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 64(3), pages 456-467.
    12. Haiqian Ke & Wenyi Yang & Xiaoyang Liu & Fei Fan, 2020. "Does Innovation Efficiency Suppress the Ecological Footprint? Empirical Evidence from 280 Chinese Cities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-23, September.
    13. Soumyananda Dinda, 2018. "Production technology and carbon emission: long-run relation with short-run dynamics," Journal of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(1), pages 106-121, January.
    14. Hossein Rahnama & Kerstin Johansen & Lisa Larsson & Anna Öhrwall Rönnbäck, 2022. "Collaboration in Value Constellations for Sustainable Production: The Perspective of Small Technology Solution Providers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-20, April.
    15. Mendez-Picazo, María-Teresa & Galindo-Martin, Miguel-Angel & Perez-Pujol, Rafael-Sergio, 2024. "Direct and indirect effects of digital transformation on sustainable development in pre- and post-pandemic periods," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    16. Lea Primožič & Andreja Kutnar, 2022. "Sustainability Communication in Global Consumer Brands," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-16, October.
    17. Hao Cheng, 2023. "Composite quantile estimation in PLS-SEM for environment sustainable development evaluation," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(7), pages 6249-6268, July.
    18. Wu, Weiwei & Zhang, Yifan, 2025. "Artificial intelligence innovation and environmental performance: Unraveling the complex roles of application and method innovation across enterprise sizes," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    19. Jose García‐Quevedo & Elisenda Jové‐Llopis & Ester Martínez‐Ros, 2020. "Barriers to the circular economy in European small and medium‐sized firms," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(6), pages 2450-2464, September.
    20. Hornungová, Jana & Petrová, Kateřina, . "The Relationship Between Digital Performance and Production of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in EU Countries: Correlation Analysis and ANOVA Method," AGRIS on-line Papers in Economics and Informatics, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Economics and Management, vol. 15(01).
    21. Aldieri, Luigi & Bruno, Bruna & Makkonen, Teemu & Vinci, Concetto Paolo, 2023. "Environmental innovations, geographically mediated knowledge spillovers, economic and environmental performance," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:24:p:13983-:d:705243. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.