Does digital inclusive finance promote carbon emission reduction of enterprises

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 19; no. 7; p. e0302826
• Main Authors: Peng, Yu, Qiu, Ying, Li, You, Peng, Xinwan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 01.07.2024
• Subjects: Air pollution; Air quality management; Carbon; Carbon - metabolism; Carbon dioxide; Carbon emissions; Carbon sequestration; China; Cities; Digital technology; Digitization; Earth Sciences; Ecology and Environmental Sciences; Emissions; Emissions (Pollution); Emissions control; Energy consumption; Entrepreneurship; Environmental protection; Finance; Financial services; Government business enterprises; Heterogeneity; Industry - economics; Information technology; People and Places; Physical Sciences; Pollutants; Regional development; Research and Analysis Methods; Small & medium sized enterprises-SME; Social Sciences; Spillover effect; Sustainable development; Underserved populations; China
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0302826

Can the information technology revolution lead to carbon emission reduction for firms? This study extends the limited evidence in the literature and investigate the role and mechanism of digital inclusive finance on enterprises’ carbon emissions using panel data of 247 prefectural-level cities and 6019 industrial enterprises in China. Our findings indicate that digital inclusive finance can promote enterprise carbon emission reduction, and this effect remains significant after the instrumental variable estimation test. The effect has regional heterogeneity and the development of digital inclusive finance in the area east of Hu Huanyong line has a significant impact on reducing enterprise carbon emission. The role of digital inclusive finance is heterogeneous in enterprise ownership, with a remarkable effect in non-state-owned enterprises. Sub-dimension analysis indicates that the breadth of coverage, depth of use, and degree of digitalization of digital inclusive finance have differential effects on reducing enterprise carbon emissions. The stepwise regression method shows that the impact of digital inclusive finance on enterprise carbon emissions can be passed through effect of technological progress, environmental protection investment and financing constrain. This study has significant reference value for evaluating the impact of financial inclusion and policy implications in formulating differentiated strategies for achieving carbon emission reduction efficiency in enterprises.