U-shaped relationship between environmental regulation and the digital transformation of the Chinese coal industry: Mechanism and moderating effects

Abstract

The coal industry faces heavy constraints from environmental regulation because of its high energy consumption and pollution. Although this industry is striving to promote digital transformation, the impact of environmental regulation on this process remains unclear. Thus, based on Chinese coal A-share listed companies from 2011 to 2022, our study examines the nonlinear relationship between environmental regulation and digital transformation, and explores the mechanism of corporate innovation, and the moderating effects of media and investor attention, respectively. The findings reveal that: (1) An inverted U-shaped relationship exists between environmental regulation and the digital transformation of the coal industry; (2) Environmental regulation influences the digital transformation of the coal industry through corporate innovation; (3) From an external supervision perspective, media and investor attention positively moderate the inverted U-shaped relationship; (4) The inverted U-shaped relationship is more pronounced in state-owned enterprises. (5) Green innovation in coal industry partially mitigates the negative impact of environmental regulation on digital transformation. Therefore, digital transformation of the coal industry can be promoted through the establishing appropriate environmental regulation, strengthening on corporate innovation, and expanding external supervision channels.

Keywords: Corporate innovation; Digital transformation of coal industry; Environmental regulation; Investor attention; Media attention.