Digital transformation and enterprise low-carbon innovation: A new perspective from innovation motivation

From the perspective of innovation motivation, low-carbon innovation is divided into substantive low-carbon innovation and strategic low-carbon innovation. On this basis, this study empirically investigates the impact and mechanism of digital transformation on enterprise low-carbon innovation using data from China's A-share listed enterprises from 2005 to 2019. The results show that digital transformation promotes the overall level of enterprise low-carbon innovation, substantial low-carbon innovation, and strategic low-carbon innovation, with a more significant impact on strategic low-carbon innovation. For enterprises with large-scale, belonging to high-monopoly industries and located in high-marketization regions, the promotion of digital transformation is more significant and facilitates strategic low-carbon innovation more than substantive low-carbon innovation. Based on the internal capability perspective, enhancing management capability, R&D capability, and environmental information disclosure capability are three important channels of digital transformation affecting low-carbon innovation. •The impact of digital transformation on LCI is explored from innovation motivations.•Management, R&D and environmental information disclosure capabilities are channels.•Heterogeneity is analyzed from enterprise size, industry monopoly and regional marketization.