Explore of Innovation on Green ESG Performance in Chinese High Tech Enterprises: Moderating Effects of AI-Driven Digital Transformation

This study examines the relationship between innovation capabilities and green environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance in Chinese high-tech enterprises, with a particular focus on how AI-driven digital transformation moderates this relationship. Using panel data from 5,900 firm-year observations collected from CNRDS, Wind, and CSMAR databases between 2015 and 2022, we employ a fixed-effects model to test our hypotheses. Our findings reveal that innovation capabilities significantly enhance green ESG performance, and this relationship is positively moderated by AI-driven digital transformation. Firms with higher levels of AI implementation demonstrate a stronger positive relationship between innovation and green performance. The results remain robust across multiple specifications, addressing endogeneity concerns through instrumental variable approaches and propensity score matching. Our study contributes to the literature on sustainable development and digital transformation in emerging economies by providing empirical evidence on how next-generation productive forces facilitated by AI technologies can accelerate environmental sustainability in China's high-tech sector.