Beyond the paradox: how digital transformation shapes carbon disclosure through green innovation

Digital transformation has enhanced enterprises’ data processing and analysis capabilities, enabling them to more accurately assess their carbon emission status and formulate corresponding emission reduction strategies. However, research on the sustainable creation path of digital transformation is still lacking. This study uses the Chinese listed companies from 2013 to 2023 as the research sample, obtaining a total of 8,877 observations. It employs the panel fixed effects model and nonlinear regression methods, with the core objective being to explore the intrinsic relationship and mechanism between digital transformation and the quality of enterprise carbon disclosure. The findings reveal a significant U-shaped relationship between digital transformation and the quality of carbon disclosure, with the carbon disclosure paradox being prominent. The literature review indicates that green technological innovation (GTI) serves as the core endogenous mechanism underlying this U-shaped relationship. The core value of this study lies in clarifying the nonlinear impact and path of digital transformation on the quality of carbon disclosure, providing important empirical evidence and decision-making references for the government to formulate policies for the coordinated development of digital transformation and carbon emission reduction, guiding enterprises to standardize carbon disclosure, and solving the carbon disclosure paradox through green technological innovation.