Impact of digital technology innovation on carbon intensity: evidence from China's manufacturing A-share listed enterprises.

Current studies do not provide a consensus on whether digital technology innovation can reduce enterprise carbon intensity despite the rise of the digital economy. This paper examines the role and influence pathway of digital technology innovation on enterprise carbon intensity using data from A-share listed enterprises in China's manufacturing industry from 2012 to 2021. The findings indicate that (1) digital technology innovation has been found to significantly reduce enterprise carbon intensity, as confirmed by numerous robustness and endogeneity tests. However, its inhibitory effect on carbon intensity shows a marginal decreasing trend. (2) In the heterogeneity analysis, it was found that digital technology innovation significantly reduces the carbon intensity of consuming coal, coke, kerosene, and diesel. From various perspectives, including enterprise, industry, and external environment, there are significant differences in the carbon reduction effects of digital technology innovation. (3) The analysis of impact paths reveals that digital technology innovation can affect enterprise carbon intensity through three paths: improving productivity, enhancing green innovation efficiency, and adjusting energy consumption. (4) Upon further analysis, it was discovered that the spillover effect of digital technology innovation is more pronounced in the industry cohort of enterprises. Additionally, digital technology innovation plays a positive role in enhancing enterprise ESG performance. The paper's findings offer empirical evidence and decision-making references for the government to develop reasonable policies for reducing carbon emissions, promoting green and low-carbon enterprise transformation, and actively and steadily achieving the goal of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality.

The Spatial Interaction Effect of Environmental Regulation on Urban Innovation Capacity: Empirical Evidence from China.

This paper applies a spatial econometric model to measure the impact of environmental regulation on urban innovation capacity from a spatial interaction perspective by using panel data from 41 cities in the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration from 2009 to 2018. The study findings are as follows: first, environmental regulation has a significant positive impact on urban innovation capacity and a significant positive spatial spillover effect; second, innovation capacity has significant positive spatial dependence; third, city informatization level, government expenditures on science and technology, city economic scale, and industrial development level all positively affect the innovation capacity of neighboring cities and all have positive spatial spillover effects on the innovation capacity of neighboring cities; and finally, city expansion reduces the innovation capacity of a city and has negative spatial spillover effects on the innovation capacity of neighboring cities.