The Internal Mechanism of How Enterprise Digitalization Empowers Sustainable Development: A Mediation Analysis Based on Enterprise Green Transformation

Abstract

Against the background of the integration of the "Dual Carbon" goals and the digital economy, this paper focuses on the internal mechanism of enterprise digital transformation empowering sustainable development. Based on the panel data of A-share listed companies from 2020 to 2024, this paper constructs a theoretical model of "digital transformation – green transformation – sustainable development". The findings show that: (1) Enterprise digital transformation can directly and significantly improve ESG performance; (2) It indirectly promotes sustainable development by facilitating green transformation, and green transformation plays a partial mediating role. The conclusions remain valid after robustness tests such as changing the measurement of the explained variable and shortening the sample interval. This paper systematically reveals the synergy mechanism between digitalization and greening, and provides empirical evidence for enterprises and policy makers to promote the "digital-green integration".