Can digital transformation foster green innovation in a "dual-carbon" vision?——Evidence from Chinese construction enterprises

Abstract

Against the backdrop of increasing global environmental pollution and energy consumption, green innovation is necessary to achieve green transformation. As an industry with a huge demand for resources and energy consumption, the construction industry shoulders the mission of the times to promote green innovation to enhance the ability of sustainable development. Digital technology provides new opportunities for green innovation in the construction industry. However, the impacts and mechanisms of digital transformation driving green innovation have not been thoroughly studied. Using a sample of companies listed in the construction industry of China between 2011 and 2021, this study presents an empirical analysis to investigate the impact and mechanism of digital transformation on green innovation within construction enterprises. The study results demonstrate that digital transformation is capable of significantly enhancing the level of green innovation within construction enterprises; Digital transformation can promote green innovation in construction enterprises through three channels, including alleviating financing constraints, improving corporate governance, and enhancing the level of corporate risk-taking; Compared to non-SOEs, SOEs have more endogenous incentives for green transformation based on multiple pressures, thus weakening the driving role of digital transformation to some extent; The driving effect of enterprises' digital transformation is more significant when the intensity of regional environmental regulation is high. This paper examines how the digitization of construction enterprises can lead to new greening ideas from the perspective of green innovation. It provides an important theoretical basis and decision-making reference to support the construction industry in its digital transformation and realize the goal of " dual carbon ".