Research On The Impact Of Digitization On Green Development Of Manufacturing Enterprises In China

Since the Industrial Revolution,the development of the economy and society has heavily relied on fossil fuels.The use of fossil fuels can lead to significant energy consumption and pollution emissions,resulting in greenhouse gases that seriously damage the environment and have a series of serious impacts on human health and economic development.How to respond to and solve this problem has become a hot topic of concern for all sectors of society.Green development is a consensus solution for countries around the world to address resource and environmental issues and address climate change.China is also facing problems of resource scarcity and environmental quality exceeding standards.China’s green development is imperative,especially in the critical period of ecological civilization construction entering a coordinated and efficient reduction of pollution and carbon,from quantitative to qualitative changes.It is necessary to implement the new development concept and firmly promote green development.The manufacturing industry is a pillar industry of the national economy and a major contributor to carbon emissions.Exploring suitable green development paths for China’s manufacturing industry largely determines whether China’s low-carbon economic development goals can be successfully achieved and determines the future development of the manufacturing industry.Under the goals of "maintaining a stable proportion of the manufacturing industry" and "promoting high-end,intelligent,and green manufacturing",and in the context of deepening the implementation of green manufacturing,exploring a green development path for China’s manufacturing industry that is different from traditional industrialization has become an urgent practical problem that needs to be solved.Currently,digitization is experiencing unprecedented rapid development,which is a new driving force for economic growth and a way to achieve advanced manufacturing and establish a modern industrial system.The green development of digitization and manufacturing has a natural integration characteristic,which can change the traditional economic activity mode,provide full process support for the green development of manufacturing enterprises,make accurate identification and real-time tracking of energy consumption and pollutant emissions data the norm,and timely solve environmental problems a reality.Digitization has amplification,superposition,and doubling effects on green development.Greening leads the direction of digitization,and the two work together in the manufacturing industry to form a new path of green development for industrialization.With the deepening of the digitization process and the increasing emphasis on green development,the academic community has deepened its research on digitization,green development,and the relationship between digitization and green development,providing a solid theoretical foundation for this study.However,there is still uncertainty in existing research when evaluating the environmental benefits of digitization.Although some studies support the positive impact of digitization on the environment,such as pollutant reduction,green innovation,and improved environmental performance,these indicators still need further improvement in comprehensively reflecting the new trends and characteristics of green development in manufacturing enterprises in the later stages of industrialization.The relationship between digitization and green development is complex and multidimensional,and existing research lacks in-depth exploration of this complexity and dynamic variability,especially failing to fully consider the differentiated green benefits of different types of enterprises in the digitization process.Based on the theoretical background and the practical characteristics of green development in manufacturing enterprises,an indicator system that can reflect the green development of manufacturing enterprises was constructed from three dimensions: structured,capable,and leveraged.Structured focuses on the adjustment of production methods by manufacturing enterprises to achieve energy conservation and emission reduction,empowered focuses on the improvement of green innovation capabilities by manufacturing enterprises to obtain differentiated green competitive advantages,and leveraged focuses on the adjustment of development models by manufacturing enterprises to break away from dependence on resources and environment.Engaging in high value-added and green production and operation activities is a manifestation of leveraged upgrading in manufacturing enterprises.From energy conservation and emission reduction to green innovation,and then to green upgrading,it reflects the development logic of manufacturing enterprises in the process of green development,from green production methods to shaping green competitiveness,and then pursuing green upgrading.It can reflect the connotation of green development in the manufacturing industry in the later stage of industrialization and achieve high-end,intelligent,and green manufacturing.In the internal circulation,economic,social,and environmental effects can be taken into account,while in the external circulation,the low-end lock of the value chain can be overcome,achieving the climb of the value chain position and the improvement of international division of labor status.Based on this,this study constructs a green development framework that includes energy conservation and emission reduction,green innovation,and green upgrading,and studies the relationship,mechanism,boundary conditions,and benefits of digitization on the three dimensions of green development.The research conclusions are as follows:Firstly,digitization can promote energy conservation and emission reduction in Chinese manufacturing enterprises.Energy conservation and emission reduction are essential for enterprises to achieve green development,a production method that benefits the natural environment,and a structured manifestation of green development.The study focuses on Chinese A-share manufacturing listed enterprises from 2015 to2020,using text mining method to measure the digitization level of enterprises.Based on resource-based theory and empowerment theory,the study investigates how digitization drives internal structural adjustments of enterprises to achieve energy conservation and emission reduction.The results show that:(1)Digitization has an energy-saving and emission reduction effect.(2)Digitization achieves energy conservation and emission reduction through the effects of technological progress,scale,and structural optimization.(3)The digital implementation of energy conservation and emission reduction mainly relies on source control and the application of digital technology to achieve energy conservation and emission reduction effects.(4)For non-state-owned manufacturing enterprises,large-scale manufacturing enterprises,heavily polluting manufacturing enterprises,manufacturing enterprises in highly competitive industries,manufacturing enterprises located in areas with strong environmental regulations,and manufacturing enterprises in the central and eastern regions.(5)Digitization driven energy conservation and emission reduction have both social and economic effects.Secondly,digitization can promote the enhancement of green innovation capabilities in Chinese manufacturing enterprises.Green innovation is the green improvement or creation of traditional technologies,processes,and products,which reflects the ability dimension of green development and helps enterprises establish green competitive advantages.The study focuses on Chinese A-share manufacturing listed companies from 2015 to 2020.Based on resource allocation theory and dual innovation theory,the study investigates how digitization affects the improvement of dual green innovation capabilities of enterprises through the allocation of innovation factors.The results showed that:(1)Digitization can promote exploratory green innovation in enterprises,but it exhibits an inverted U-shaped relationship with exploitative green innovation.(2)Digitization achieves dual green innovation through the allocation of capital elements,knowledge elements,labor elements,and technology elements.(3)For large-scale manufacturing enterprises,clean manufacturing enterprises,manufacturing enterprises in highly competitive industries,regions with strong environmental regulations,and manufacturing enterprises in the central and eastern regions.Digitization can achieve the improvement of dual green innovation.(4)Digitally driven dual green innovation can achieve a win-win situation for both the economy and the environment.Again,digitization can promote the green upgrading of Chinese manufacturing enterprises.Green upgrading refers to the transformation of manufacturing enterprises from their original development mode to engage in high value-added and green production and operation activities.Essentially,it is the decoupling of enterprise development mode from resource and environment,and is a manifestation of the leverage and upgrading of manufacturing enterprises.The study focuses on Chinese A-share manufacturing listed companies from 2015 to 2020,and explores the impact and underlying mechanisms of digitization on green upgrading of manufacturing enterprises from the perspective of value chain theory.The results show that:(1)Digitization can promote green upgrading of enterprises.(2)Digitization achieves green upgrading through research and development innovation and enterprise service-oriented transformation.(3)For non-state-owned manufacturing enterprises,large-scale manufacturing enterprises,manufacturing enterprises in highly competitive industries,regions with strong environmental regulations,and manufacturing enterprises in western regions,digitization can achieve the green upgrading effect.(4)Digitization driven green upgrading can achieve the climb of manufacturing enterprises in the global value chain and the improvement of their international division of labor position.Research has found that digitization and green development can achieve synergistic coexistence,and has revealed the mechanism,path,and boundary conditions of digitization driving green development in manufacturing enterprises.In theory,a theoretical framework that reflects the green development of manufacturing enterprises in the later stages of industrialization has been constructed,expanding the path selection for green development of manufacturing enterprises,identifying the path mechanism of digitization ’s impact on energy conservation,emission reduction,green innovation,and green upgrading of manufacturing enterprises,determining the decisive role of enterprises in the modern environmental governance system,and expanding the research on the consequences of digitization.In practice,it has important practical significance to accelerate the construction of a "manufacturing powerhouse" and achieve the dual carbon goals at the macro level.At the middle level,it points out the direction of national policies,industry policies,and industrial policy adjustments for manufacturing enterprises to achieve green development benefits through digitization.At the micro level,it has certain guiding significance for guiding manufacturing enterprises on how to implement digital transformation strategies and explore suitable green development paths.