Digital Technology Innovation and Corporate Environmental Responsibility: A Resource Acquisition Perspective
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54097/8rc31g23Keywords:
Digital technology; environmental responsibility; resources; green development.Abstract
Using annual panel data of A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2011 to 2024, this paper examines the impact of digital technology innovation on corporate environmental responsibility. The results show that, first, corporate digital technology innovation significantly improves firms’ actual performance in environmental responsibility. Specifically, it both reduces symbolic environmental disclosure and promotes substantive environmental responsibility performance. Second, the mediation analysis indicates that digital technology innovation has a significant resource effect: firms can improve their environmental responsibility performance by acquiring more digital resources, knowledge resources, and credit resources. Third, the positive effect of corporate digital technology innovation on environmental responsibility is more pronounced among firms with higher levels of slack resources and firms subject to stronger environmental regulation. Fourth, further analysis shows that digital technology innovation can guide firms to undertake environmental responsibility from both the breadth and depth of application, exerting a positive influence in the process.
Downloads
References
[1] Berawi, M. A., Suwartha, N., Asvial, M., & Purbasari, R. (2020). Digital innovation: Creating competitive advantages. International Journal of Technology, 11(6), 1076–1080. https://doi.org/10.14716/ijtech.v11i6.4523.
[2] Du, Y., Zhou, J., Bai, J., & Cao, Y. (2023). Breaking the resource curse: the perspective of improving carbon emission efficiency based on digital infrastructure construction. Resources Policy, 85, 103842. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2023.103842
[3] De Giovanni, P. (2021). Smart supply chains with vendor managed inventory, coordination, and environmental performance. European Journal of Operational Research, 292(2), 515–531. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2020.10.033
[4] Cardinali, P. G., & De Giovanni, P. (2022). Responsible digitalization through digital technologies and green practices. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 29(4), 984–995. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.2247
[5] Luo, S., Yimamu, N., Li, Y., et al. (2023). Digitalization and sustainable development: How could digital economy development improve green innovation in China? Business Strategy and the Environment, 32(4), 1847–1871. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.3456
[6] Parguel, B., Benoît-Moreau, F., & Larceneux, F. (2011). How sustainability ratings might deter ‘greenwashing’: A closer look at ethical corporate communication. Journal of Business Ethics, 102, 15–28. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-010-0708-1
[7] Hanelt, A., Firk, S., Hildebrandt, B., & Kolbe, L. M. (2021). Digital M&A, digital innovation, and firm performance: an empirical investigation. European Journal of Information Systems, 30(1), 3–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/0960085X.2020.1825743
[8] Ye, F., Ouyang, Y., & Li, Y. (2023). Digital investment and environmental performance: The mediating roles of production efficiency and green innovation. International Journal of Production Economics, 259, 108822. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpe.2023.108822
[9] Tortora, D., Chierici, R., Briamonte, M. F., & Tiscini, R. (2021). ‘I digitize so I exist’. Searching for critical capabilities affecting firms’ digital innovation. Journal of Business Research, 129, 193–204. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.02.041
[10] Khin, S., & Ho, T. C. F. (2019). Digital technology, digital capability and organizational performance: A mediating role of digital innovation. International Journal of Innovation Science, 11(2), 177–195. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJIS-08-2018-0087
[11] Firk, S., Gehrke, Y., Hanelt, A., & Wolff, M. (2022). Top management team characteristics and digital innovation: Exploring digital knowledge and TMT interfaces. Long Range Planning, 55(3), 102166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2021.102166
[12] Svahn, F., Mathiassen, L., & Lindgren, R. (2017). Embracing digital innovation in incumbent firms. MIS Quarterly, 41(1), 239–254. https://doi.org/10.25300/misq/2017/41.1.11
[13] Minor, D., & Morgan, J. (2011). CSR as reputation insurance: Primum non nocere. California Management Review, 53(3), 40–59. https://doi.org/10.2307/41166602
[14] Li, Z., Liao, G., & Albitar, K. (2020). Does corporate environmental responsibility engagement affect firm value? The mediating role of corporate innovation. Business Strategy and the Environment, 29(3), 1045–1055. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2448
[15] Pan, J., Du, L., Wu, H., & Liu, X. (2024). Does environmental law enforcement supervision improve corporate carbon reduction performance? Evidence from environmental protection interview. Energy Economics, 132, 107441. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2024.107441
[16] Cormier, D., Gordon, I. M., & Magnan, M. (2004). Corporate environmental disclosure: contrasting management's perceptions with reality. Journal of Business Ethics, 49, 143–165. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:BUSI.0000015707.08261.60
[17] Mishra, S., & Modi, S. B. (2016). Corporate social responsibility and shareholder wealth: The role of marketing capability. Journal of Marketing, 80(1), 26–46. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022242915608338
[18] Liu, D. Y., Chen, S. W., & Chou, T. C. (2011). Resource fit in digital transformation: Lessons learned from the CBC Bank global e-banking project. Management Decision, 49(10), 1728–1742. https://doi.org/10.1108/00251741111183865
[19] Cong, L. W., & He, Z. (2019). Blockchain disruption and smart contracts. The Review of Financial Studies, 32(5), 1754–1797. https://doi.org/10.1093/rfs/hhz017
[20] de Sousa Jabbour, A. B., Jabbour, C. J., Foropon, C., & Godinho Filho, M. (2018). When titans meet-Can industry 4.0 revolutionise the environmentally-sustainable manufacturing wave? The role of critical success factors. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 132, 18–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2018.01.017
[21] Dubey, R., Gunasekaran, A., Childe, S. J., Papadopoulos, T., Luo, Z., Wamba, S. F., & Roubaud, D. (2019). Can big data and predictive analytics improve social and environmental sustainability? Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 144, 534–545. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2019.04.012
[22] Gunasekaran, A., Papadopoulos, T., Dubey, R., Wamba, S. F., Childe, S. J., Hazen, B., & Akter, S. (2017). Big data and predictive analytics for supply chain and organizational performance. Journal of Business Research, 70, 308–317. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2016.08.006
[23] Jones, C. I., & Tonetti, C. (2020). Nonrivalry and the economics of data. American Economic Review, 110(9), 2819–2858. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.20191830
[24] Bhandari, K. R., Zámborský, P., Ranta, M., & Salo, J. (2023). Digitalization, internationalization, and firm performance: A resource-orchestration perspective on new OLI advantages. International Business Review, 32(4), 102135. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibusrev.2023.102135
[25] Kaplan, S., & Vakili, K. (2015). The double‐edged sword of recombination in breakthrough innovation. Strategic Management Journal, 36(10), 1435–1457. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.2294
[26] Lyytinen, K., Yoo, Y., & Boland, R. J., Jr. (2016). Digital product innovation within four classes of innovation networks. Information Systems Journal, 26(1), 47–75. https://doi.org/10.1111/isj.12092.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

