The twin digital and green transition is crucial for sustainable development, with human intellectual capital playing a pivotal role. This study aims to examine how the chief information officer (CIO) affects corporate twin digital and green transition.
Using data from Chinese A-share listed companies between 2008 and 2023, this study uses a staggered difference-in-differences analysis to identify causal effects. This study measures companies’ digital and green transitions based on word frequency in annual reports, with digital and green patent applications serving as supplementary indicators. This study further applies a coupling coordination model to capture the synergy between digital and green transitions.
The CIO establishment significantly accelerates the pace of digital and green transitions, while also strengthening the synergy between them. Plausible mechanisms include managerial myopia reduction, internal control quality enhancement, intangible asset accumulation and environmental investment improvement, and the economic intuition behind this is that the CIO provides strategic and technical guidance for the twin transition. The study also finds that the CIO yields more pronounced effects on companies with relaxed financing constraints, non-high-tech industries, light-polluting industries and those located in central and western China.
This study highlights the critical role of human intellectual capital in the twin transition, offering valuable managerial insights from a strategic decision-making perspective to promote sustainable development.
