Driving green growth: the asymmetric impact of the digital economy on firms’ low-carbon transition in China

This paper empirically investigates the impact of the digital economy on firms’ low-carbon transition, using data on listed firms in the Chinese A-share market from 2013 to 2022. Our findings reveal that the digital economy notably drives their low-carbon transition, and this conclusion remains robust to stability tests and controls for endogeneity. The mediating effect test outcomes indicate that the digital economy can facilitate firms’ transition to low-carbon operations through industrial structure upgrading. The moderating effect analysis exhibits that the intensity of market competition strengthens this facilitating effect on firms’ low-carbon transition. The heterogeneity analysis demonstrates that this facilitating effect is more pronounced among state-owned enterprises, declining firms, digital economy firms, and technology-intensive enterprises. Furthermore, the spillover effect test results indicate significant spillover effects of the digital economy among peer firms, categorized by industry and city. Our study elaborates on the underlying mediating pathways through which the digital economy indirectly drives this transition via industrial structure upgrading, alongside the moderating role of market competition intensity. This work broadens the theoretical research framework on transformation dynamics and provides decision-making references for formulating industrial upgrading guidance policies and optimizing the market competition landscape.