The Impact of Fiscal and Tax New Media on the Sustainable Spirit of Green Entrepreneurs: Evidence from China

Abstract

Fiscal and tax new media has emerged as a new channel for government-enterprise engagement, linking policy communication with firms’ sustainability-oriented decisions. This study hand-collects the launch status of official microblog accounts for finance and taxation departments in China’s prefecture-level cities. This paper combines these data with firm-level observations on China’s green enterprises from 2008 to 2022, and clearly defines the sample of green enterprises. Defining the sustainable spirit among green entrepreneurs from the perspective of entrepreneurship and innovation. This is to estimate how government communication and policy signaling shape firms’ sustainability-oriented behavior. Treating the introduction of official fiscal and tax new media as a quasi-natural experiment, we apply a staggered difference-in-differences design to identify its effect on green entrepreneurs’ sustainable spirit. The study finds that launching official fiscal and tax new media significantly stimulates the sustainable spirit of green entrepreneurs. Mechanism tests suggest that the effect operates through improvements in information infrastructure and governance capacity, including higher internet penetration, reduced fiscal and tax irregularities, and stronger digital governance. Particularly in regions with weaker government–business relations, more integrated administrative systems, lower fiscal pressure, and higher government subsidies, the promoting effect is more significant. Overall, the findings offer policy implications for strengthening the effectiveness of public digital communication and for fostering green entrepreneurs’ sustainable spirit.

1. Introduction

As global climate change and ecological environmental crises intensify, fostering a green and low-carbon economic transition has become a shared mission for the international community. Within this context, entrepreneurs, as key agents, are committed to creatively restructuring resources to drive growth. They aim to address environmental issues while generating economic value, thereby achieving synergistic improvements in economic, social and ecological benefits [1]. The national government places high importance on cultivating entrepreneurship. The report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China explicitly stated the need to “stimulate and protect entrepreneurs’ spirit, and encourage more members of society to engage in innovation and business start-ups.” Entrepreneurs’ spirit is often conceptualized as the comprehensive ability of entrepreneurs to organize and manage firms. This ability serves as an intangible element that propels innovation and entrepreneurship. Within the current sustainability imperative, the sustainable spirit of green entrepreneurs extends beyond the traditional concept. It transcends the narrow confines of sole economic profit pursuit and broadens its focus to include the active responsibility for ecological stewardship alongside corporate profitability [2,3,4,5,6]. This form of entrepreneurship, with its green focus, is becoming an increasingly pivotal force in advancing sustainable development [7]. Accordingly, cultivating and galvanizing green entrepreneurship represents a dual necessity. It is inherently required for meeting China’s carbon peak and neutrality targets, and is equally critical for constructing a modernized industrial architecture and advancing high-quality development.

Green entrepreneurial and innovative activities often face more complex challenges than those in traditional business domains [8,9]. Various internal and external factors continually influence the spirit of entrepreneurs dedicated to green and low-carbon goals. The first factor involves entrepreneurs’ personal attributes. Research indicates that entrepreneurs’ social and ethical values provide critical support for resource integration, risk management and green innovation [3]. Notably, collectivist values can moderate the relationship between social identity and sustainable entrepreneurial behavior, thereby helping to shape a sustainable social environment [10]. Entrepreneurs’ perceptions of the practicality of green policies, as well as their acceptance of novel technologies, are both key determinants [5]. Furthermore, green entrepreneurship orientation and environmental leadership directly drive green entrepreneurial practices [11,12]. The second factor involves organizational conditions. Some scholars argue that green entrepreneurs focus on developing green business models and value chains [13], while digital infrastructure and technology orientation enhance organizational resilience and support green innovation practices [5]. Meanwhile, collaboration between industry and academia has become a crucial channel for acquiring key technologies and innovation resources [14]. Market competition further drives companies to pursue green differentiation, creating new demand for clean and sustainable products [15]. The third factor is about institution and macroeconomic environment. Governments are increasingly adopting policies that prioritize green and sustainable development, and their evaluation systems are transitioning toward green development metrics. This provides strong external impetus for green entrepreneurship and the cultivation of entrepreneurs’ environmental awareness [16,17]. Policy tools such as green finance reforms, green credit, and environmental regulations directly incentivize innovation and entrepreneurship in green industries [18,19]. Furthermore, technological advancements like the internet and artificial intelligence can drive the success of green innovation and entrepreneurship [20], with their effects amplified by government support [21].

The new media environment can compel heavily polluting enterprises to enhance green technology innovation, which generates a positive effect on their total factor productivity [22,23]. Both the quantity and scope of new media applications have shown broader growth. Sina Weibo is a representative new media platform. According to the Weibo Financial Report (Q3 2025) [24], it has seen substantial user bases, reaching 578 million MAUs and 257 million DAUs by the end of the third quarter of 2025. To this end, government social media has arisen as a key medium [25], transforming complex fiscal and tax regulations into practical, comprehensible guides for entrepreneurs. It achieves this by leveraging digital tools to bridge the gap between the government and the public, breaking free from the constraints of traditional channels. This is realized through relatable explanations, prompt updates and an interactive approach, all in service of more effective social governance [26]. Government departments’ new media primarily serve three functions, which are publicity [27], warning [28,29], and supervision [30,31,32]. Firstly, government new media helps the public understand policy news and reform signals. Compared with traditional media, new media can reach a wider audience in reporting events or disseminating key points [31]. The official new media platforms disseminate essential tax information and policy signals to the public, helping them stay informed about fiscal and taxation news as well as reform initiatives [27]. Furthermore, these platforms can sustain public engagement with key issues through persistent reporting [33]. Secondly, government media exposing tax evaders will benefit the nation. Companies are highly concerned about the negative impact of media reports on their reputation, which significantly limits their motivation to formulate strategies [28]. Media scrutiny of corporate irregularities acts as a catalyst for government agencies to progressively strengthen regulatory oversight, which both warns and urges enterprises to normalize their behavior. Thirdly, media is an important channel to convey the attitude and ability of enterprises to pay taxes, and can play a potential supervisory role. The feedback between new media and individuals can affect the interests of the masses. When government agencies provide high-quality information on social media, it not only attracts social attention but also accepts public accountability for government actions [30,34].

However, research specifically addressing how government departments utilize these platforms for fiscal and tax governance remains scarce. Presently, only Sun K.P. and Yang F. (2024) have examined this issue by focusing on the tax administration practices of tax bureaus’ Weibo accounts [32]. On one hand, new media enables the swift dissemination of tax policy and regulatory information, allowing taxpayers to promptly understand their rights and obligations. This effectively boosts tax compliance [35]. By leveraging diverse formats such as imagery, text, and videos, new media presents complex tax policies in accessible terms. These media campaigns focus on taxes, reduce taxpayers’ comprehension barriers, and enhance their perception of tax system fairness [36]. On the other hand, new media has established a convenient communication bridge between tax authorities and taxpayers. Fluctuations in media sentiment can serve as a predictor for market changes [37]. Within the process of administrative compliance, service quality and trust are equally critical [38]. Taxpayers can consult on tax matters and provide feedback through new media platforms, enabling tax authorities to respond promptly and enhance service efficiency. Moreover, the interactive nature of new media helps tax authorities accurately understand taxpayer needs. This contributes to the refinement of tax collection and administration models, elevates societal compliance norms, and ultimately enhances overall tax governance capacity [39,40].

This indicates that there remains a significant research gap regarding the impact of public finance and taxation new media on green entrepreneurs’ spirit. It is an urgent requirement to build digital fiscal scenarios, innovate e-government approaches, and facilitate corporate green transformation. It is crucial to analyze how official new media platforms of government fiscal authorities can effectively cultivate green entrepreneurs’ sustainable spirit. This research holds both substantial significance and practical value. To fill this research gap, this paper incorporates the entrepreneurial spirit and innovative spirit of green enterprises into the same analytical framework. And this paper analyzes the impact and mechanism of fiscal and tax new media on the sustainable spirit of green entrepreneurs in detail, combined with the staggered difference-in-difference model. The potential marginal contribution of this paper is mainly evident in four aspects. First, we systematically compiled official Sina Weibo data from municipal finance and taxation departments across China, conducting theoretical analysis and staggered DID (difference-in-differences) model tests. This study provides substantial evidence to support the participation of new media in contemporary fiscal and taxation governance. Second, the perspective of fiscal and taxation department governance is detailed, which breaks the limitation of the existing research based on the perspective of overall government governance. Third, the study focuses on the special cluster of green enterprises and the key driving force of green entrepreneurship, aiming to enrich the theoretical connotation of the sustainable spirit of green entrepreneurs in the digital economy era. This research holds both prospective and practical significance for promoting corporate innovation and entrepreneurship. More importantly, informed by institutional and legitimacy theory and signaling theory, this paper treats fiscal and tax new media as more than an efficiency tool. It is an institutional channel that shapes perceived rule stability, procedural fairness, and policy credibility. This perspective shows how digital public communication can strengthen legitimacy and trust, and thereby support sustained green investment. Finally, this paper aims to explore the specific role of new media in public finance and taxation in infrastructure, institutional guarantee and institutionalization of governance. It aims to provide valuable theoretical references and practical insights for the government to optimize fiscal policy communication, for platforms to enhance content quality, and for green entrepreneurs to effectively utilize these new media tools.

The remaining structure is as follows: Section 2 discusses the influence mechanism; Section 3 describes the empirical strategies and variables; Section 4 provides the empirical results and discussion; Section 5 provides the heterogeneity analysis; Section 6 is the conclusions.

2. Theoretical Analysis

Green entrepreneurs’ sustainable spirit refers to a long-term tendency of entrepreneurship and innovation. It pursues economic value and integrates environmental responsibility into the choice of opportunity, resource allocation and innovation efforts [41]. It is not a single trait but a structured set of motivations and capabilities. Based on previous research, the spirit is regarded as relatively stable decision-making orientation [7]. It primarily captures the underlying tendencies that shape these behaviors, unlike specific entrepreneurial activities such as project initiation. To keep the concept theoretically focused and empirically measurable, this study characterizes it along two core dimensions that jointly capture the key drivers of sustainable entrepreneurship—namely, entrepreneurial spirit and innovative spirit [42]. Entrepreneurial spirit reflects the tendency to recognize opportunities, tolerate uncertainty, mobilize resources, and sustain commitment, which is central to sustainability-oriented decision making. Innovative spirit reflects willingness to learn and experiment, as well as the capacity to generate and apply new knowledge, which is essential for translating sustainability intentions into improvements in products, processes, and business models. Fiscal and tax government new media may influence above dimensions through the digital infrastructure mechanism, the administrative compliance mechanism, and the digital governance institutionalization mechanism.

2.1. Digital Infrastructure Mechanism

Fiscal and tax new media is a flagship initiative in government digital transformation. Its high-frequency usage and user-friendly nature have created a powerful demonstration effect for both the public and businesses, significantly boosting regional internet adoption willingness and digital literacy [31,32]. The rise in internet penetration has essentially established the digital infrastructure and network ecosystem that underpins green entrepreneurship and innovation [43,44].

Digital infrastructure strengthens green entrepreneurs’ sustainable spirit by reducing information frictions and enabling wider coordination, consistent with institutional and signaling logic. Social media expands the government’s capacity to disseminate and share policy information, which broadens access to knowledge [27]. This allows both potential and incumbent green entrepreneurs to overcome geographic constraints and obtain national green fiscal policies, market trends, and even international policy practices at low cost. A more integrated digital media ecosystem also improves resource connectivity. It enables entrepreneurs to interact and exchange knowledge with governments, resource providers, and supply chain partners via digital platforms [45]. In addition, rising internet penetration reduces transaction costs of green entrepreneurship and collaboration through tools such as remote work and cloud services, lowering reliance on physical space and travel [46]. Extensive media exposure further helps entrepreneurs perceive broader demand for green products [47]. Ultimately, higher internet penetration creates a more efficient and interconnected digital context in which fiscal and tax new media can reinforce green entrepreneurs’ sustainable spirit. From this, this paper proposes Hypothesis 1:

H1. 

By expanding the internet penetration rate, the new media of fiscal and tax authorities increase green entrepreneurs’ sustainable spirit.

2.2. Administrative Compliance Mechanism

By disclosing policy specifics, fund flows, and audit findings, fiscal new media subject tax-related activities to public scrutiny. This mechanism compels government agencies to reduce discretionary power, strengthen procedural compliance, and enhance systematic rectification of fiscal irregularities, while simultaneously serving as a deterrent to businesses [29].

When policies are implemented with stable standards and transparent procedures, entrepreneurs face less discretionary uncertainty and fewer hidden compliance burdens, which makes long-horizon green investment more feasible. Predictable enforcement reduces the risk of sudden shifts in standards and weakens the need for ad hoc bargaining. Standardized administrative procedures further cut non-productive coordination time and potential rent-seeking costs, freeing managerial attention and resources for green technology R&D [48]. In addition, audit disclosures of fiscal irregularities in environmental protection strengthen accountability and verification, thereby enhancing the credibility of ISO 14001 certification and improving the reliability of policy benefit realization [49,50]. Together, these changes reduce discretionary risk, lower concealed compliance costs, and increase the legitimacy returns to credible green commitment, reinforcing green entrepreneurs’ sustainable spirit. From this, this paper proposes Hypothesis 2:

H2. 

The new media of fiscal and tax authorities standardize the government affairs of finance and taxation, thereby promoting the sustainable spirit of green entrepreneurs.

2.3. Digital Governance Institutionalization Mechanism

Fiscal and tax social media can strengthen digital governance capacity by standardizing online guidance and recording administrative interactions, thereby making policy implementation more transparent and more consistent across localities. Information economics and principal–agent theory suggest that offline administration often suffers from information asymmetry and high monitoring costs, which can lead to ambiguous interpretation, uneven enforcement, and higher hidden compliance costs [51,52]. Digital governance improves when rules and procedures are accessible, searchable and traceable.

Publishing policy texts, operational guidelines, and compliance reminders increases visibility and accountability, constrains discretionary interpretation, and supports more uniform enforcement. Interactive features also generate timely feedback on firms’ recurring questions and risk points, enabling governments to refine guidance, issue earlier warnings, and deliver more targeted support. In institutional terms, clearer rules and stronger legitimacy signals reduce uncertainty and coordination burdens, which encourages green entrepreneurs to pursue long-term sustainable opportunities and invest in green innovation [53]. From this, this paper proposes Hypothesis 3:

H3. 

By institutionalizing digital governance, the new media of fiscal and tax authorities help develop the sustainable spirit of green entrepreneurs.

3. Research Design

3.1. Empirical Model

Using the staggered difference-in-difference model regression equation in formula (1) as the basic model, we analyze the impact of fiscal and tax new media on the sustainable spirit of green entrepreneurs:

$$G{S}_{it}={\alpha }_0+{\theta }_0{WB}_{it}+{\lambda }_0{X}_{it}+{\mathsf{\varphi }}_i+{\mu }_t+{\epsilon }_{it}$$

(1)

where subscripts i and t represent company and year, respectively. The dependent variable (GS) represents the sustainable spirit of green entrepreneurs of firm i in year t, which is further divided into green entrepreneurial spirit (GE) and green innovative spirit (GI). The independent variable (WB) indicates the official new media of fiscal and taxation authorities in China. It is coded as 1 if the city where enterprise i is located has launched an official Weibo in year t, and as 0 otherwise. X contains a series of control variables at the city level and company level. ${\phi }_i$ is the regional fixed effect; ${\mu }_t$ represents year fixed effect; and ${\epsilon }_{ij}$ is a random disturbance term. ${\alpha }_0$ reveals constant term. ${\theta }_0$ reveals the influence of Weibo on GS after controlling characteristics of cities and companies and other factors.

This paper uses the mediation effect model to verify the influence mechanism, as shown in Formulas (2) and (3). It examines whether the internet penetration rate, fiscal and taxation standardization, and institutionalization of digital governance are the mechanisms by which new media in fiscal and taxation influence GS.

$$M_{it}={\gamma }_0+{\gamma }_1{WB}_{it}+{\gamma }_2{X}_{it}+{\varphi }_i+{\mu }_t+{\epsilon }_{it}$$

(2)

$$G{S}_{it}={\beta }_0+{\beta }_1{WB}_{it}+{{\beta }_{2}M}_{it}+{\beta }_3{X}_{it}+{\varphi }_i+{\mu }_t+{\epsilon }_{it}$$

(3)

The mechanism variables (M) are divided into internet penetration rate (M1), the irregularities of fiscal and taxation management (M2) and institutionalization of digital governance (M3). ${\gamma }_1$, ${\beta }_1$ and ${\beta }_2$ are as key parameters. The definition of the other variables is the same as that in Equation (1).

3.2. Variable Measurement

3.2.1. New Media of Public Finance and Taxation

The fiscal and tax authorities in China have established official accounts on Sina Weibo, where they share information updated promptly on fiscal policies and green tax incentives through new media platforms. The accounts also highlight typical cases of tax evasion and provide a feedback channel for public supervision, serving as a key benchmark for evaluating the performance of tax authorities and their digital governance capabilities. Through these new media channels, tax authorities have established digital linkages with enterprises that demonstrate strong environmental awareness. Specifically, leveraging targeted promotion (@ and retweets) to increase visibility, and use of the hashtag (#) consolidates all participating enterprises and users in discussions. By leveraging the cumulative influence of followers, the official Weibo followers include a large number of key decision-makers and implementers from green enterprises, such as founders, senior executives, and financial personnel, who are direct recipients of the information.

Therefore, this paper measures the development of new media in finance and taxation by examining the official Weibo accounts of finance and taxation departments. It manually compiled the information on official accounts opened by finance and taxation departments in various prefecture-level cities on Sina Weibo, with the identification criterion being the presence of certification marks for government finance and taxation departments on their homepages. The study comprehensively investigated and systematically analyzed the digital efforts of China’s public finance and taxation departments [32]. Furthermore, this study identifies the initial policy implementation date as the posting time of the first official Weibo post by tax and finance departments, since content dissemination constitutes the actual promotional function. Given the relatively underdeveloped status of county-level tax and finance Weibo accounts, grassroots authorities predominantly monitor information from municipal or higher-level platforms. Moreover, government platforms within the same province tend to synchronize policy communications, and bottom-up participation can significantly enhance governance transparency [54]. Moreover, compared to the intensity of Weibo posts, its measurement of activation status exhibits smaller errors, more consistent cross-regional standards, and is less susceptible to the reverse impact of local enterprise innovation activity, resulting in lower endogenous risks. Therefore, based on practical considerations and data availability, the proxy variable for fiscal and tax new media is determined by whether the official Weibo accounts of the municipal finance and taxation departments are active. If a company’s municipal-level city has an active official Weibo account of either the finance or taxation department, it indicates that the local government has implemented fiscal and tax new media, and the dummy variable for fiscal and tax new media is assigned a value of 1; otherwise, it is assigned a value of 0. Additionally, the deadline for manually organizing fiscal and tax official Weibo accounts is 13 April 2025.

3.2.2. The Sustainable Spirit of Green Entrepreneurs

First, Green Enterprise will be defined. We define green firms as those whose core operations comply with recognized environmental standards, which signals credible environmental engagement. Following the relevant methodology [6], we screened green enterprises by their ISO 14001 environmental management certification status in China, where listed companies with ISO 14001 certification were classified as green enterprises [55]. ISO 14001, the globally recognized environmental management system standard, requires enterprises to identify environmental factors, manage compliance obligations, set objectives, and control processes, with a focus on continuous improvement [56]. This approach aligns with the core principles of green entrepreneurship, including environmental governance capabilities and continuous improvement. While reducing measurement errors caused by subjective assessments and voluntary disclosures by enterprises.

Second, entrepreneurship and innovation is focused on to clarify green entrepreneurs’ sustainable spirit. Prior studies often measure sustainable entrepreneurship using triple-bottom-line outcomes, ESG indicators, or mission-based criteria [8,9]. By comparison, this paper proposes a more fine-grained conceptualization. Sustainability is reflected in the long-term perspective of the choice of entrepreneurship and innovation, and the integration of environmental responsibility into the whole process of decision-making. Thus, we conceptualize green entrepreneurs’ sustainable spirit as entrepreneurs’ enduring orientation to pursue long-term value creation while internalizing environmental responsibility in strategic decisions. Within the sustainable entrepreneurship framework, entrepreneurs achieve sustainability goals through two key components. The first involves the identification and pursuit of opportunities shaped by environmental constraints, whereas the second concerns innovatively translating sustainable opportunities into replicable and diffusible solutions [42]. Thus, based on their relative significance and the availability of relevant data, these components are therefore categorized as entrepreneurial spirit and innovative spirit [6].

Finally, the measurement of entrepreneurship and innovation spirit is determined. The former captures entrepreneurs’ commitment, risk bearing, and strategic discretion in sustaining green-oriented ventures, which is closely tied to equity-based control rights in corporate settings [57]. Given that the core concept of entrepreneurship fundamentally relates to an individual’s equity ownership ratio, the proportion of top executives’ shareholding is selected to measure green entrepreneurs’ entrepreneurial spirit [7,58]. Meanwhile, the latter reflects the propensity to generate and institutionalize new knowledge and technologies that support green competitiveness. And the total number of granted patents provides a more precise assessment of corporate innovation capability, making it the preferred metric for evaluating green entrepreneurs’ innovative spirit [6].

3.2.3. Control Variables

Referencing previous research [59,60,61], the paper controls for two types of variables, i.e., macroeconomic-level variables and firm-level control variables. These variables are considered to affect the sustainable spirit of green entrepreneurs. Detailed information on all variables is displayed in

Table 1. Variable definitions.

Variable	Symbol	Definition
GE	Green entrepreneurial spirit	Shareholding ratio of executive.
GI	Green innovative spirit	Total number of patents granted.
WB	The new media of finance and taxation	It is coded as 1 if the city where enterprise i is located has launched official Weibo of finance and taxation in year t, and as 0 otherwise.
fisexp	Fiscal expenditure scale	Fiscal expenditure (in 10,000 yuan), logarithmized.
gdp	Regional production scale	Regional GDP (in 10,000 yuan), logarithmized.
ind	Industrial structure	Ratio of secondary industry added value to GDP (%).
size	Business scale	Operating revenue (in 10,000 yuan), logarithmized.
fincost	Financing cost	Financing expenses and capital usage fees (in 10,000 yuan).
fixturn	Fixed asset turnover rate	Ratio of sales revenue to average net fixed asset value.
sellcost	Sales expense ratio	Ratio of sales expenses to sales revenue.

.

3.3. Sample and Data

This paper selects A-share companies listed in China from 2008 to 2022, with those that have successfully obtained ISO 14001 certification as green enterprises. The data processing is as follows: (1) excluding companies that have never obtained ISO 14001 certification during the study period; (2) excluding non-compliant listed companies such as ST, ST*, and PT; (3) excluding companies in the financial sector; (4) excluding insolvent companies, i.e., those with a debt-to-asset ratio less than 0; (5) excluding listed companies with severe data deficiencies. The fiscal and tax new media data is manually compiled based on the official Weibo accounts of fiscal and taxation departments in various prefecture-level cities. Additionally, other data used in this paper comes from the China Stock Market and Accounting Research Database (CSMAR) and the China Statistical Yearbook (2009–2023). After matching the prefecture-level city data with enterprise-level data, we obtained 9539 annual observations from 2493 enterprises, and performed a 1% tail-trimming treatment on the green entrepreneurial spirit variable. Descriptive statistics are shown in

Table 2. Summary statistics.

Variable	N	Mean	Std. Dev.	Min	Max
GE	9266	9.078	15.166	0.000	62.182
GI	9539	67.756	158.626	0.000	1145.000
WB	9539	0.595	0.491	0.000	1.000
fisexp	9539	16.169	1.138	12.167	18.358
gdp	9535	18.135	1.092	13.827	19.917
ind	9535	41.990	10.676	13.620	86.680
size	9539	21.580	1.408	16.948	28.592
fincost	9539	0.005	0.044	−1.000	0.507
fixturn	9539	6.195	13.947	0.054	623.494
sellcost	9539	0.064	0.078	0.000	0.801

, specifically observed number (N), mean, standard deviation (Std. Dev.), minimum (Min) and maximum (Max).

4. Results and Discussion

4.1. Baseline Result

This paper analyzes the impact of new media on the sustainable spirit of green entrepreneurs, using the staggered difference-in-difference model.

Table 3. Baseline results.

Variable	GE		GI
	(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)
WB	1.163 **	1.073 **	20.646 **	19.302 **
	(0.495)	(0.487)	(8.941)	(8.575)
Control variables	NO	YES	NO	YES
Firm Fixed Effects	YES	YES	YES	YES
Year Fixed Effects	YES	YES	YES	YES
N	8618	8615	8878	8874
R2	0.872	0.873	0.818	0.825

Notes: ** p < 0.05; the values in parentheses represent robust standard errors clustered by enterprise level.

presents the estimation results of Formula (1). In columns (1) and (3), control variables are not included. Both of the coefficients of the spirits of green entrepreneur (GE and GI) are significantly positive. In columns (2) and (4), both estimated coefficients are significantly positive at the 5% level, with values of 1.073 and 19.302, respectively. This indicates that the new media of finance and taxation significantly improves the green entrepreneur’s sustainable spirit. There are three possible explanations. Firstly, by leveraging new media platforms, tax authorities deliver tailored policy guidance and detailed explanations to green enterprises. This approach not only enables entrepreneurs to swiftly identify relevant green business opportunities, but also greatly reduces information search costs [62]. Secondly, disseminating government information through digital platforms enhances the transparency of administrative procedures. This effectively alleviates corporate concerns over policy uncertainties, thereby providing stable expectations for green investment decisions [63,64]. Finally, the successful green transition cases promoted on the new media provide replicable business templates. These cases foster a consensus about green innovation among entrepreneurs, stimulating them to seize the green market through innovation [65]. Accordingly, the new media of public finance and taxation advances GE and GI.

4.2. Parallel Trend Test

Parallel trend tests are necessary to evaluate the presence of systematic differences among enterprises prior to policy implementation [66]. Given the limited data from the seven years before and the four years after the media launch, this study consolidates the pre-launch seven-year data into pre-seven and the post-launch four-year data into post-four. Additionally, the study adopts period seven before the launch of fiscal and tax new media as the base period. As shown in Figure 1, before the finance and taxation authorities launched their official new media platforms, the coefficients for GE and GI were not statistically significant in either group. This indicates that the parallel trends assumption holds between the treatment and control groups.

As shown in Figure 1a, GE made a significant impact in the first year of launching the new media of fiscal and taxation. And this promoting effect can persist significantly into the fourth stage. This demonstrates that the finance and taxation authorities have effectively utilized new media as a guiding tool to attract green enterprises into the market. This is the entry reaction brought by information impact and institutional cognition improvement, but the marginal effect is diminishing. This does not imply the stimulus has vanished, but rather suggests its impact on the structural variables of stock governance is more likely to manifest in phases [67,68]. This reveals a diminishing marginal effect of policies in incentivizing green entrepreneurs’ entrepreneurial spirit, demonstrating limited sustainability. Figure 1b shows that GI has consistently demonstrated significant performance since the second year of launching fiscal and tax new media. There is a significant lag in the cultivation of green entrepreneurs’ innovative spirit. And innovation exerts lasting effects as an endogenous driving force for sustainable development. The continuous innovation ability constitute the fundamental guarantee for the long-term development of green enterprises [69]. Therefore, the impact of open fiscal and tax new media on the sustainable spirit has a heterogeneous dynamic path, and their promoting effect is relatively lasting.

Traditional parallel trend tests cannot statistically serve as the most robust empirical evidence for the parallel trends hypothesis. Therefore, this study employs a counterfactual parallel trends approach to conduct sensitivity analyses of point estimators and confidence intervals [70]. Drawing on Biasi and Sarsons (2021), we set the maximum deviation threshold Mbar = 1 × standard to examine the parallel trends sensitivity of treatment effects following pilot policy implementation [71]. Figure 2a,b respectively present parallel trends test results for the first year after fiscal and tax new media launch under relative deviation constraints. The findings demonstrate that parallel trends remain robust under such constraints. It shows that under a certain impact deviation, the opening of new media of finance and taxation still significantly promotes the sustainable spirit of green entrepreneurs.

4.3. Placebo Test

This study employs placebo testing to identify the randomness in the impact of official Weibo. Based on the distribution of such initiatives in the baseline regression, we performed 500 rounds of random sampling with 1000 observations per sample to construct a pseudo-policy dummy variable. Using Model (1) for re-regression estimation, we analyzed the coefficient and p-value distributions, with results shown in Figure 3a,b. Most of the simulation coefficients are nearly zero and significantly lower than the baseline regression coefficient. The estimated coefficients followed a nearly normal distribution, with most p-values exceeding 0.10, indicating no statistical significance at the 10% level. This demonstrates that the influence is not attributable to random factors, confirming the robustness of the baseline results.

4.4. Robustness Tests

4.4.1. Replace the Core Explanatory Variable

In order to reflect the green entrepreneur’s innovative spirit more intuitively, this paper focuses on the green innovation perspective and further studies the green entrepreneurs’ green innovation spirit. The number of green patent applications is used as the first substitute variable of GI.

Green enterprises keep innovating in the field of technology, and ensure the integrity and long-term operation of the technological innovation chain [72]. This is how to demonstrate competitive advantages and achieve long-term development capabilities. Therefore, to further highlight the sustainable features of green entrepreneurship, the Output Innovation Index (OIP) is adopted as a second alternative variable to measure the innovative spirit of green entrepreneurs.

As shown in columns (1) and (2) of

Table 4. Replace the core explanatory variable and PSM-DID Test.

Variable	Replace the Core Explanatory Variable		PSM-DID Test
	the Number of Green Patent Applications	OIP	GE	GI
	(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)
WB	4.551 *	105.459 ***	1.073 **	19.304 **
	(2.695)	(38.682)	(0.487)	(8.571)
Control variables	YES	YES	YES	YES
Firm Fixed Effects	YES	YES	YES	YES
Year Fixed Effects	YES	YES	YES	YES
N	8872	6483	9231	9509
R2	0.816	0.788	0.885	0.832

Notes: * p < 0.1, ** p < 0.05, *** p < 0.01; the values in parentheses represent robust standard errors clustered by enterprise level.

, both coefficients of WB are significantly positive. At a 10% significance level, WB significantly enhanced the number of green patent applications. And at a 1% significance level, WB significantly enhanced OIP. Thus, the conclusion is robust.

4.4.2. PSM-DID Test

To mitigate endogenous issues, this study employs PSM-DID (Proportional Score Matching with Difference-in-Differences) to further identify the effects. This paper uses the logit model to calculate the propensity score of each sample enterprise based on the enterprise characteristics measured by the control variables at the enterprise level. We then implement 1:2 nearest-neighbor matching, imposing a caliper (maximum allowable distance) of 0.01. As shown in columns (3) and (4) of Table 4, both coefficients of WB are significantly positive within the common trend range at a 5% significance level. The results show that the conclusion is still valid after using PSM-DID method to identify the impact of new media on green entrepreneurs.

4.4.3. The Influence of the Choice of the Baseline Variable

The ideal situation of using the staggered difference-in-difference model is that the pilot city and non-pilot city are randomly selected. If the opening time of new media is related to the economic foundation and location of the city, the evolution of these factors may have different effects on the spirits of green entrepreneur, resulting in estimation bias.

To mitigate the impact of non-random timing in the new media activation, we incorporate the interaction term into Equation (4), as referenced by previous research [73], yielding the following:

$$G{S}_{it}={\alpha }_0+{\theta }_0{WB}_{it}+{\lambda }_0{X}_{it}+\xi Q_c\times tren{d}_t+{\phi }_i+{\mu }_t+{\epsilon }_{it}$$

(4)

Here, Q denotes dummy variables for a set of urban benchmark factors, including whether the city belongs to the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB), lies east of the Hu Huanyong Line (HHYL), or is a provincial capital (capital). And the trend term is represented by trend_t. As shown in

Table 5. Addition of baseline variable to mitigate the impact of selection.

Variable	(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)	(6)
	GE	GI	GE	GI	GE	GI
WB	1.067 **	16.599 *	1.044 **	19.384 **	1.149 **	19.734 **
	(0.492)	(8.607)	(0.486)	(8.586)	(0.500)	(8.649)
c.YREB#c.year	−0.006	−2.885 *
	(0.100)	(1.662)
c.HHYL#c.year			−0.252 **	1.690
			(0.107)	(2.653)
c.capital#c.year					−0.070	−0.373
					(0.100)	(1.766)
Control variables	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
Firm Fixed Effects	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
Year Fixed Effects	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
N	8615	8874	8615	8874	8615	8874
R2	0.873	0.826	0.873	0.825	0.873	0.825

Notes: * p < 0.1, ** p < 0.05, the values in parentheses represent robust standard errors clustered by enterprise level. c.YREB#c.year represents the interaction term between the urban benchmark factor and the linear trend over time, and similarly for c.HHYL#c.year and c.capital#c.year.

, the coefficient estimates of WB passed the significance test at the 10% level after adding the interaction term, consistent with the baseline results. In fact, fiscal and tax new media are located in cities with varying levels of economic development, exhibiting differentiated e-government digitalization levels. And it has a certain degree of randomness in selection [74].

4.4.4. Change the Sample Interval

The COVID-19 in 2020 severely hindered entrepreneurial activities and innovation across numerous enterprises. Concurrently, the pandemic heightened reliance on digital platforms, with increased frequency of remote work and online consultations, which may have impacted the adoption of new media channels [75]. To preserve the validity of empirical findings, we excluded 2020 sample data and re-evaluated the impact of fiscal and tax new media on the spirits of green entrepreneur. As shown in

Table 6. Results after changing the sample interval.

Variable	GE		GI
	(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)
WB	1.132 **	1.062 **	18.451 **	16.952 **
	(0.480)	(0.474)	(8.322)	(7.947)
Control variables	NO	YES	NO	YES
Firm Fixed Effects	YES	YES	YES	YES
Year Fixed Effects	YES	YES	YES	YES
N	7654	7651	7891	7887
R2	0.872	0.873	0.813	0.821

Notes: ** p < 0.05; the values in parentheses represent robust standard errors clustered by enterprise level.

, these media channels demonstrated positive effects on both entrepreneurial and innovative spirit among green entrepreneurs at the 5% significance level. Therefore, this confirms the robustness of the empirical results.

4.4.5. Elimination of Competitive Policy Interference

To accurately assess the actual effectiveness of the new media initiatives, it is essential to eliminate potential confounding effects from concurrent policy implementations. This study establishes a dummy variable for the policy, assigning pilot cities to the value 1 as a control variable in Equation (1). Specifically, it respectively controls for national e-government pilot programs, Golden Tax Phase III, and the National Big Data Comprehensive Pilot Policy. As shown in columns (1), (3), and (5) of

Table 7. Exclusion of competitive policy interference.

Variable	(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)	(6)
	GE	GI	GE	GI	GE	GI
WB	1.083 **	19.523 **	1.064 **	19.708 **	1.111 **	17.748 **
	(0.486)	(8.576)	(0.488)	(8.597)	(0.495)	(8.704)
national e-government pilot programs	0.403	9.074 **
	(0.383)	(4.002)
Golden Tax Phase III			−0.179	8.206
			(0.607)	(7.202)
the National Big Data Comprehensive Pilot Policy					−0.248	10.961
					(0.831)	(11.586)
Control variables	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
Firm Fixed Effects	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
Year Fixed Effects	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
N	8615	8874	8615	8874	8615	8874
R2	0.839	0.779	0.839	0.779	0.839	0.779

Notes: ** p < 0.05; the values in parentheses represent robust standard errors clustered by enterprise level.

, it reveals a statistically significant positive impact of fiscal and tax new media on GE at the 5% significance level. Similarly, the analysis in columns (2), (4), and (6) of Table 7 demonstrates a positive correlation between fiscal and tax new media and GI at the same significance level.

The Notice on Launching National E-Government Comprehensive Pilot Projects advocates Internet Plus Government Services, utilizing e-government platforms to publicize tax and financial procedures. This empowers businesses to access service details more directly and efficiently, guiding them to implement policies accurately while reducing service costs, thereby attracting more green enterprises. The government has introduced environmental protection incentives, including tax breaks and subsidies. Through Internet Plus Government Services, businesses can clearly understand policies promoting green development and R&D innovation, as well as the scope and duration of tax benefits. This enables enterprises to optimize costs and balance innovation with operations, enhancing the sustainability of green enterprises’ R&D efforts [76].

The Golden Tax Project is a key national e-governance initiative. It standardizes tax enforcement, optimizes taxpayer services, and reduces administrative costs and compliance risks for tax authorities. By mitigating tax-related risks for market entrants, it bolsters confidence and encourages entrepreneurship, particularly fostering green business innovation [77]. Meanwhile, the Golden Tax Phase III system provides unified tax services, information platforms, and interactive tax-collector services, enhancing compliance rates and public satisfaction. It creates a stable and compliant business environment, accelerates corporate cash flow, and offers flexible capital allocation flexibility, thereby sustaining innovation momentum for green entrepreneurs [78,79].

The National Big Data Comprehensive Pilot Zone intensifies regional resource integration and promotes intensive green development. It cultivates a good entrepreneurial spirit for green enterprises. Enterprises with premium resources and expertise engage in mentorship and collaboration, leveraging their influence to drive regional synergy. This fosters economic quality enhancement, guides green enterprise development, and inspires more eco-conscious entrepreneurs [80]. Simultaneously, the pilot zone prioritizes data element circulation by consolidating data centers and facilitating public data sharing. This approach accelerates the flow of innovative resources, thereby fostering a more innovative mindset among green entrepreneurs [49,81,82].

4.5. Results of the Analysis of Mechanisms

Green entrepreneurs are confronted with three major bottlenecks, which are weakened innovation incentives, fragmented resources, and knowledge silos. By improving the internet penetration rate, standardizing fiscal and taxation governance, and promoting the institutionalization of digital governance, new fiscal and taxation media can effectively address these challenges. This approach helps overcome technical barriers, institutional deficiencies, and policy ambiguities, thereby further fostering the sustainable spirit of green entrepreneurs.

4.5.1. Internet Penetration Rate

Drawing on relevant literature [11,83,84], we measure internet penetration (M1) through the ratio of broadband subscribers per 100 population. As shown in columns (1) of

Table 8. Mechanism test results.

Variable	(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)	(6)	(7)	(8)	(9)
	M1	GE	GI	M2	GE	GI	M3	GE	GI
WB	13.121 ***	0.557	10.205 ***	−0.343 ***	0.892 **	11.378 ***	0.124 ***	1.175 ***	10.602 ***
	(0.636)	(0.362)	(3.416)	(0.021)	(0.349)	(3.298)	(0.010)	(0.347)	(3.274)
M1		0.048 ***	0.219 ***
		(0.006)	(0.056)
M2					−1.278 ***	−3.477 **
					(0.169)	(1.603)
M3								1.268 ***	15.577 ***
								(0.366)	(3.450)
Control variables	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
Firm Fixed Effects	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
Year Fixed Effects	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
N	8801	8801	9060	9251	9251	9523	9263	9263	9535
R2	0.372	0.137	0.276	0.182	0.135	0.275	0.341	0.131	0.276
Soble Z		7.59	3.83		6.85	2.15		3.34	4.27
mediation effect proportion (%)		53.26	22.17		32.94	9.65		11.77	15.77

Notes: Due to space limitations, only key results are displayed. For other content, please contact the author. ** p < 0.05, *** p < 0.01; the values in parentheses represent robust standard errors clustered by enterprise level.

, at the 1% significance level, opening more WB promotes internet penetration. And as shown in columns (2) and (3) of Table 8, at the 1% significance level, increased internet penetration promotes the sustainable spirit of green entrepreneurs. Research confirms that internet adoption positively impacts entrepreneurship [85], enhances entrepreneurial drive among specific demographics [86], and improves green innovation efficiency [84]. These effects encourage entrepreneurs to uphold eco-friendly practices, embrace green and low-carbon concepts, and engage in external collaborations, thereby establishing a solid foundation for cultivating green entrepreneurship.

A purely institutional account would attribute the effect to changes in administrative rules or enforcement practices rather than to connectivity itself. However, the mediation effect proportion of M1 is the biggest—53.26% on GE and 22.17% on GI. It indicates WB’s impact primarily transmitted through M1. It is more like a kind of information mechanism. Fiscal and tax new media works mainly as a communication channel; higher internet penetration should strengthen its effect by expanding reach and speeding up information diffusion. This further validates Hypothesis 1.

4.5.2. The Irregularities of Fiscal and Taxation Management

The more irregularities identified by audit departments in local fiscal audits, the more it indirectly reflects the arbitrary and non-standardized administrative practices of local governments [29]. From the perspective of fiscal fund auditing, this study measures the irregularities of fiscal and taxation governance (M2) through the number of audit projects completed per 10,000 people. As shown in columns (4) to (6) of Table 8, at the 1% significance level, the opening of new media of finance and taxation weakens the degree of irregularities of finance and taxation government affairs. More standardized fiscal and taxation administration can promote the entrepreneurial spirit of green entrepreneurs, at the 1% significance level. And at the 5% significance level, it promotes the innovative spirit of green entrepreneurs.

This channel reflects an institutional explanation rather than simple information diffusion. Standardized governance effectively promotes transparency and standardization in implementation processes, curbs uncertainties and information barriers in contract execution, and directly reduces performance risks and costs [76]. This helps purify the business environment, lays a solid foundation for building a harmonious industrial development ecosystem. Thus, this further validates Hypothesis 2.

4.5.3. The Institutionalization of Digital Governance

As a neutral technological instrument in the hands of government, new media primarily operates by first influencing governments’ subjective governance behaviors, which then transmit to and ultimately affect green firms’ economic decisions [87]. In 2016, China’s State Council issued the “Guidelines on Accelerating the Internet + Government Services Initiative,” designating 80 cities as pilot regions to implement the program. Digital governance has become the cornerstone of China’s administrative modernization, with rapid progress in digital governance capabilities, particularly at the prefecture-level and city-level, significantly improving business environments. However, since establishing information platforms and implementing license systems requires time, enterprises only began to experience tangible improvements in service efficiency after 2017. To address this, a dummy variable was introduced to measure digital governance (M3). Cities where enterprises are located are assigned a value of 1 if they are pilot cities, while others receive a value of 0.

As shown in columns (7) to (9) of Table 8, at the 1% significance level, the launch of new media platforms for fiscal and taxation affairs enhances the government’s digital governance capabilities, thereby boosting the sustainability mindset among green entrepreneurs. This mechanism goes beyond information dissemination. It reflects governance institutionalization in a digital setting, where public agencies embed policy delivery and service provision into more integrated, data-enabled, and trackable processes. Such capacity can reduce fragmented implementation across localities, improve responsiveness, and increase the credibility of government commitments. It also makes rules easier to navigate and compliance more predictable, which supports entrepreneurs’ willingness to sustain green investment under uncertainty. This further validates Hypothesis 3.

5. Heterogeneity Analysis

5.1. Relationship Between Politics and Commerce

The relationship between government and business reflects the quality of a region’s business environment and governance level. According to the China Urban Government-Business Relationship Evaluation Report 2023 [88], this paper divides the sample into two regions. Regions with a government-business relationship health index below the median in China are classified as areas with poor government-business relations, while those with an index above the median are classified as areas with healthy government-business relations. As shown in Figure 4a,b, fiscal and tax new media demonstrate significantly stronger promotion effects on the sustainable spirit of green entrepreneurs in regions with strained government-business relations. This pattern aligns with an informational channel. When offline communication is less smooth, firms face greater uncertainty about policy interpretation, administrative procedures, and compliance requirements. Fiscal and tax new media can clarify rules, standardize guidance, and reduce the cost of obtaining reliable policy information. This supports more forward-looking entrepreneurial and innovative decisions [53].

In contrast, Figure 4a,b show limited effectiveness in regions with sound government–business relations, and the effect is statistically insignificant. From an institutional viewpoint, fiscal and tax new media can enhance transparency and accountability through public and traceable interactions. This can narrow discretionary room in policy implementation. Yet baseline governance in these regions is already relatively transparent and predictable. The institutional gains from new media are therefore small. Fiscal and tax new media mainly serves as a complementary communication channel. It becomes a genuine governance innovation only when it materially reduces uncertainty.

5.2. The Intensive Management of Websites

The integrated development of government websites and new media platforms has established a precise and efficient bridge for government-enterprise interaction. According to the 2024 Online Government Innovation Development Report, this paper divides the sample into two regions [89]. Cities rated “excellent”, “good” and “strong” in online government construction are categorized as regions with outstanding results in website integration pilot programs, while those rated “moderate” or “needs improvement” are classified as regions with poor outcomes. As shown in Figure 4a,b, in regions with excellent website integration pilot results, fiscal and tax new media demonstrate significantly stronger promotion of the sustainable spirit of green entrepreneurs. This pattern supports an institutional complementarity view. When the pilot is effective, online platforms are more integrated, procedures are more standardized, and interdepartmental coordination is smoother. In this setting, fiscal and tax new media is more likely to be embedded in service delivery and feedback processes. Public communication can then be translated into traceable administrative actions. This improves policy predictability and strengthens green entrepreneurs’ incentives for longer-term entrepreneurial and innovative efforts.

In contrast, Figure 4a,b show no significant effect in regions where the pilot programs perform poorly. When platform integration and process standardization are weak, online communication is less able to change implementation. Information may remain fragmented, and feedback may not lead to timely handling. Fiscal and tax new media then mainly serves a communication function rather than a governance one [90]. These results suggest that fiscal and tax new media is most effective when it is supported by capable digital infrastructure and integrated administrative processes. Without these foundations, its governance value is limited.

5.3. Fiscal Pressure

Drawing on the methodology of previous research [91], we measure fiscal pressure through the ratio of local fiscal budget revenue-expenditure gap to total budget revenue. Regions with fiscal pressure below the average are classified as low-pressure areas, while those exceeding the average are designated as high-pressure areas. Figure 4a,b show that the positive effect of fiscal and tax new media on green entrepreneurs’ sustainable spirit is significantly stronger in regions with lower fiscal pressure. A plausible explanation is that fiscal slack improves policy credibility and implementation capacity. Local governments with more fiscal room are better able to honor green incentives in a timely and adequate manner. More stable funding also makes environmental enforcement and subsidy delivery more predictable, which reduces concerns about symbolic policies that are not followed through [92]. In addition, fiscal slack allows complementary investments in green infrastructure and services. It also reduces incentives to rely on aggressive fees and charges that can crowd out resources for green upgrading.

By contrast, Figure 4a,b show no significant effect in high fiscal pressure regions. Even if fiscal and tax new media disseminates policy information effectively, rigid expenditures and debt constraints can delay or scale back discretionary spending such as environmental subsidies. Governments under fiscal stress may also resort to stronger revenue extraction, which raises compliance costs and weakens the motivation to pursue green initiatives. Overall, this heterogeneity suggests that fiscal and tax new media is most effective when fiscal conditions allow policy signals to be translated into credible commitments and consistent implementation.

5.4. Amount of Government Subsidies

From the non-operating income item in the company’s annual financial statement notes, we compiled government subsidy details for various green enterprises. Subsidy amounts below the median were categorized as low, while those above were classified as high. As shown in Figure 4a,b, fiscal and tax new media demonstrate significantly stronger promotion effects on the green entrepreneurs’ sustainable spirit in regions with larger government subsidies. From an informational perspective, larger subsidies make policy messages more concrete. Entrepreneurs can identify eligible programs, application requirements, and expected support more easily. This reduces search costs and uncertainty about whether green efforts will be rewarded. From an institutional perspective, subsidies also make policy commitments easier to verify. Clear rules and observable payments strengthen credibility and improve implementation predictability.

In contrast, when subsidies are smaller, Figure 4a,b show that the effect is statistically insignificant. Policy communication is less actionable and follow through is harder to assess. Fiscal and tax new media then mainly increases awareness, but it is less able to shape expectations and sustain pro green motivation. Overall, the evidence suggests that fiscal and tax new media works best when it is paired with visible and rule-based support, which helps information translate into credible commitments [69,93].

6. Conclusions

6.1. Empirical Conclusions

Focusing on the perspective of entrepreneurship and innovation, this paper constructs a new concept of sustainable spirit of green entrepreneurs. Using firm-level data on Chinese green enterprises from 2008 to 2022, this research combines data from the official Weibo opening status of city-level finance and taxation departments. This paper adopts the staggered difference-in-difference model to empirically test the impact of new media in finance and taxation on the sustainable spirit of green entrepreneurs. All these conclusions are robust to a series of tests, including parallel-trends tests, sensitivity analyses, placebo tests, alternative measures of the key explanatory variable, PSM-DID, addition of baseline variable to mitigate the impact of selection, alternative sample windows and controls for competing policy shocks. And the underlying mechanism is further assessed using a mediation framework. The analysis yields the following conclusions. (1) The new media of finance and taxation strengthens the sustainable spirit of green entrepreneurs, mainly by reinforcing their entrepreneurial and innovative spirit. (2) Opening new finance and taxation media supports the development of these spirits, through higher internet penetration, fewer irregularities of fiscal and taxation, and stronger digital governance. (3) In regions with poor relationships between government and business, excellent results from website consolidation pilot programs, lower fiscal pressures, larger government subsidies, and the launch of fiscal and tax new media significantly promotes green entrepreneurs to carry out sustainable entrepreneurship and innovation.

6.2. Policy Recommendations

Firstly, fiscal and tax new media should shift from information posting to integrated service delivery. Policy communication should go beyond reposting official documents and provide plain-language interpretation and clear implementation guidance. Short videos, infographics, and structured Q&A can improve policy usability and reduce entrepreneurs’ search and comprehension costs. Governments should also institutionalize online interaction by treating messages and public comments as formal service requests, with response deadlines and follow-up responsibility. At the same time, implementation should address practical constraints, including information overload, proceduralized interaction, and uneven digital access. Therefore, governments should deliver targeted content and retain offline or assisted access when needed.

Secondly, the design of fiscal and tax new media should match local governance capacity. Across these contexts, the common principle is to reduce uncertainty and transaction costs that otherwise discourage long-horizon entrepreneurial entry and sustained innovation effort. In regions with weak government-business relations, governments should prioritize trust and policy credibility through consistent communication, plain-language explanations of eligibility and procedures, and consultation services with clear answers and follow-up. In regions with stronger digital infrastructure, governments should shift the focus from posting frequency to service integration by linking new media accounts with one-stop service portals and data exchange systems. In fiscally stronger regions with larger subsidy programs, governments should use new media platforms to support accountable policy delivery by consolidating subsidy information, disclosing implementation progress and outcomes where feasible, and using brief cases to clarify compliance requirements and risks. These differentiated arrangements can improve policy access and credibility, but their effectiveness still depends on limiting information overload, superficial interaction, and digital divides.

Finally, governments should establish an institutionalized performance evaluation system for fiscal and tax new media to strengthen accountability and policy learning. The system should use harmonized and measurable indicators across levels of government, centered on entrepreneurs’ feedback and complemented by response rates, turnaround times, and complaint resolution outcomes. Platforms can embed standardized satisfaction prompts after policy updates, policy interpretation, or problem resolution, and governments can disclose aggregated results regularly. Governments should also ensure content quality through basic review procedures and responsibility-tracing mechanisms. In addition, agencies should use regular summaries of entrepreneurs’ inquiries and suggestions to improve services, assign responsibilities, set follow-up timelines, and disclose progress where feasible. The evaluation system should also account for implementation constraints, because information overload, superficial interaction, and unequal digital access can weaken policy effectiveness. Meanwhile, the evaluation should emphasize whether the platform improves the usability, credibility, and follow-through of fiscal and taxation services that matter for entrepreneurial and innovative behavior.

6.3. Limitations of the Study

Lastly, our measurement of the key constructs can be further extended. This study captures entrepreneurs’ sustainable spirit mainly from the perspectives of entrepreneurship and innovation. As a result, our evidence speaks to sustainability orientation in decision-making, rather than to broader ESG performance or triple-bottom-line outcomes. Future research can broaden the theoretical lens to include additional dimensions. When data permit, future studies can use more objective and more granular indicators of digital activity and engagement. These measures can better reflect differences in governments’ social media operations and firms’ actual participation. Examples include interaction intensity and firm-side traces of exposure to, and feedback on, platform information. In addition, we apply a relatively strict identification strategy, including parallel-trends tests, sensitivity analyses, and propensity score matching. Even so, studies based on observational data cannot fully rule out unobserved factors or selection in policy rollout. Future work should therefore make causal claims more cautiously. Finally, it is important to note that our analysis relies on a theoretical framework developed in dialog with the international literature. Whether effect sizes and mechanisms remain consistent across institutional contexts can be tested more directly using cross-country data in future research. Claims about sustainable development should be stated with caution, because broader effects are likely to be indirect and conditional.