Digital Economy, Independent Directors’ Social Capital, and Corporate Environmental Performance:Climate Policy Uncertainty

The growing urgency of environmental sustainability and rapid digital transformation presents both opportunities and challenges for firms. This study explores how the digital economy affects corporate environmental performance (CEP), emphasizing the mediating role of independent directors’ structural holes. Building on resource dependence theory, information asymmetry theory, and structural hole theory. Using panel data from Chinese A-share listed firms (2012–2023), we find that the digital economy significantly enhances CEP, and that directors’ structural holes partially mediate this relationship. Furthermore, climate policy uncertainty weakens, while ESG expectation gaps strengthen, the effect of digitalization on environmental outcomes. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that this effect varies by ownership type, regulatory environment, and environmental strategy. The findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the mechanisms through which digital transformation affects environmental performance, highlighting the importance of board network structures in shaping firms’ responses to sustainability challenges in a digitally evolving institutional context.

环境可持续性的紧迫性日益凸显，数字化转型进程突飞猛进，二者为企业带来了机遇与挑战。本研究探讨数字经济对企业环境绩效（Corporate Environmental Performance，CEP）的影响机制，重点关注独立董事结构洞的中介作用。本研究依托资源依赖理论、信息不对称理论与结构洞理论展开分析。基于2012-2023年中国A股上市公司的面板数据，研究发现：数字经济可显著提升企业环境绩效，独立董事结构洞在该影响路径中发挥部分中介作用。此外，气候政策不确定性会削弱数字化对环境绩效的正向影响，而ESG（环境、社会和公司治理，Environmental, Social and Governance）预期缺口则会强化该效应。异质性分析结果显示，该影响效应因企业所有权性质、监管环境与环境战略的不同而存在差异。本研究结论有助于更深入地理解数字化转型影响企业环境绩效的内在机理，同时凸显了董事会网络结构在数字化转型的制度演进背景下，企业应对可持续性挑战过程中的重要意义。