Light and Shadow: Identifying the Non-Linear Nexus Between Supply Chain Digitalization and Corporate Greenwashing Behavior

Against the context of China’s “Dual Carbon” strategy and fast-growing digital economy, this empirical analysis disentangles the correlation linking supply‑chain digitalization (SCD) to corporate greenwashing behavior (CGB). Since double machine learning (DML) effectively accounts for high-dimensional confounders and improves the precision of causal inference, we utilize a sample of Chinese listed firms over the period 2012–2023 and employ the DML framework to examine the impacts and internal mechanisms of SCD on CGB. This analysis reveals a significant “N-shaped” nonlinear relationship. Specifically, SCD is initially related to an increase in greenwashing, followed by a suppression effect at moderate levels, and ultimately a resurgence at high levels. Mechanism tests indicate that environmental information asymmetry and blockchain technology serve as mediating channels that vary across digitalization stages. At low levels of digitalization, information frictions and technological deficiencies prevail, exacerbating greenwashing. Medium levels enhance transparency and technological capacity, mitigating such behavior. High levels, however, introduce new forms of information asymmetry and potential technological misuse, leading to a rebound. Moderating‑effect analyses show that media supervision attenuates the resurgence phase, whereas executives with environmental backgrounds strengthen the suppression effect in the medium stage.