3.1. Digital Transformation and Green Technology Innovation
With the advent of the era of the digital economy, digital transformation has become an irreversible trend. While effectively promoting resource sharing and resource optimization, it also meets the data element requirements of green technology innovation and penetrates all aspects of green technology innovation to promote the improvement of the level of green technology innovation.
With the help of digital technology, information knowledge will be generated, shared and exchanged in the innovation network with the characteristics of low cost and rapid dissemination in real time. In the preparation stage, the use of data technology helps enterprises reintegrate and plan information such as products, processes, resources, and the external environment, effectively solve the problems of information departmentalization, fragmentation, and information asymmetry, and form a complete data information system to help enterprises make scientific decisions that are conducive to the common development of economic benefits and environmental protection. At the same time, enterprises use advanced digital technology to identify and obtain more network resources, break the information island, grasp the market development trend and consumer demand, and accelerate the formation of green creative ideas while forming their resource network [
27].
In the development stage, modern enterprises can use internet technology to establish or participate in the low-cost cooperation and exchange platforms of relevant virtual green technology innovation organizations, thereby breaking the learning barriers between organizations that reduce knowledge and information resources due to economic, geographical and time constraints. This helps the enterprises identify, acquire and absorb costs; realize collaborative innovation, resource sharing and win–win cooperation among organizations; and accelerate the progress of research and development and the innovation of green technology.
In the production process, with green as the guide, data management as the core, and technology as the key element, the digital management of the entire life cycle of product-related production factors, production data, and production processes are realized, and the enterprise product development and production process are supported. This helps the enterprises adjust the holdings of production factors in real time, optimize resource allocation, realize lean production, save energy and reduce emissions, avoid resource waste, improve production efficiency, identify redundant resources and provide resource guarantees for green technology innovation.
In the consumption link, big data technology is used to sort out and integrate information such as customer value, satisfaction, and the repurchase possibility of consumers and analyze customers’ consumption needs and product supply trends in detail to provide a clear direction for green technology innovation. This helps the enterprises achieve effective matching between supply and demand and intelligent monitoring and precise marketing of business operations, optimize resource allocation, reduce production costs, enhance production capacity, and provide an impetus for green technology innovation.
Based on the above analysis, this paper believes that digital transformation penetrates all aspects of green technology innovation, thus effectively promoting green technology innovation. Therefore, this paper proposes Hypothesis 1.
H1. Digital transformation has a significant role in promoting the improvement of enterprises’ green technology innovation level.
3.2. Analysis of Influence Mechanism of Financing Constraint Channels
The management is the main initiator of green technology innovation, and the R&D team is the important driving force of innovation. Sufficient R&D investment will help knowledge workers give full play to their value and output innovation achievements smoothly [
28,
29]. The financing constraint of enterprises makes the R&D investment insufficient to a large extent, which affects the innovation output [
30]. Since the green technology innovation industry has the characteristics of high risk and high income, in the early stage of research and development, the investment object has not yet formed the expected income of the entity, and the investment risk is extremely high. The investment return period is long, which makes it difficult to obtain a steady stream of high-quality capital inflows [
31] compared to other industries and contributes to more serious financing constraints. The investment and financing selection process of an enterprise is a process in which various stakeholders play games to maximize their interests. At different stages of enterprise development, enterprises’ demand for capital will change accordingly. The moral hazard caused by information asymmetry makes investors cautious about enterprises’ credit behavior, which leads to financing constraints. Digital transformation enables enterprises to take advantage of digital technology to reduce information asymmetry and principal–agent costs in the credit market, thereby alleviating financing constraints and raising sufficient funds for enterprises to carry out green technology innovation activities.
First, digital transformation alleviates the problem of information asymmetry to a certain extent. For enterprises, a sound digital foundation and digital industry will increase the internal and external information communication channels of the enterprise, amplify the speed, breadth and transparency of information dissemination, and help financial institutions grasp the financial and non-financial information of the capital demander more quickly. For investment institutions, pre-investment institutions can evaluate and integrate enterprise information in an all-around way, promote the rapid matching of information on both sides, improve the efficiency of enterprises in obtaining financial assistance, alleviate the problem of credit mismatch, and supervise the use and allocation of funds within the enterprise in real-time information, such as capital flow, expected income, repayment probability, etc., to effectively avoid green innovation risks caused by irregular market operations and unbalanced internal control of enterprises. This optimizes the resource allocation and risk prevention and control system of investment institutions, reducing credit risks such as bad debt losses, improving investor confidence and willingness, further breaking the shackles of financing constraints, and providing sufficient capital guarantees for the green technology innovation of enterprises [
32].
Second, digital transformation has reduced principal–agent costs to a certain extent. The extensive application of digital technology further reduces the cost of information acquisition by investment institutions and the execution cost of the supervision and control of the subsequent use of funds and enhances the efficiency of supervision and repayment management of enterprises. The effective combination of green technology innovation activities provides more opportunities for green technology innovation activities.
Third, digital transformation improves the environment for the external information dissemination of enterprises and helps enterprises broaden financing channels. The development and application of digital technology help enterprises integrate financial resources that are small and scattered in the market. Compared with the difficulty of traditional transaction costs that are too high and difficult-to-absorb funds, technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence and blockchain help enterprises achieve low cost. They collect massive amounts of data in a risky and high-reward manner and absorb and integrate more funds for enterprises to carry out green technology innovation activities [
33].
Based on the above analysis, we find that digital transformation can effectively alleviate the difficulties of corporate financing constraints so that enterprises can obtain financial support in a timely, accurate and sufficient manner to carry out green technology innovation activities. Therefore, Hypothesis 2 is proposed.
H2. Digital transformation promotes green technology innovation by easing financing constraints.
3.3. Analysis of Influence Mechanism of Government Subsidy Channels
Difficulty in financing is the main factor hindering green technology innovation. In addition to financing from social capital, government subsidies are the most direct external resource support for enterprise R&D and innovation. Innovation is “icing on the cake” [
34]. Currently, digital transformation has become a general trend. The requirements of the times, policies and regulations have created a good environment for encouraging enterprises to carry out digital transformation. Enterprises that actively comply with social trends and actively respond to the call of the times are more likely to be favored by the government; the dynamic capabilities contained in it can significantly change the organization mode, information structure, production mode, etc., of the enterprise and ultimately affect the innovation consciousness and behavior of the enterprise, help the enterprise form its core competitiveness, and realize the final strategic adjustment [
35] and business potential. Compared with traditional enterprises, such enterprises are more likely to attract government subsidies. Finally, digital transformation helps enterprises effectively integrate resources, technologies, and talent so that funds flow to places with higher utilization efficiency, thereby improving the problem of resource misallocation. At the same time, according to the big data tracking user needs, digital transformation achieves precise production, thereby optimizing the structure of capital utilization, improving the efficiency of capital utilization, and maximizing the role of government subsidies in promoting green technology innovation activities, thereby attracting more government subsidies. Therefore, Hypothesis 3 is proposed.
H3. Digital transformation promotes green technology innovation by attracting government grants.