Bridging Digitalization and Greening: The Effect of Supply Chain Innovation Policies on Firms

Promoting the coordinated development of digitalization and greening has become an important pathway for firms to achieve high-quality growth. Using panel data for A-share listed firms in China’s Yangtze River Basin from 2010 to 2022, this study examines the effect of supply chain innovation policy on firms’ digital–green development. We measure the synergy between digitalization and greening using a composite system synergy approach and identify the policy effect through a quasi-natural experiment based on the supply chain innovation policy, combined with a synthetic difference-in-differences model. The results show that the policy significantly improves the coordinated development of firm digitalization and greening, and the findings remain robust across a series of tests. Mechanism analysis indicates that this effect operates through three channels: easing financing constraints, increasing supply chain diversification, and promoting industrial chain modernization. Moderating effect tests further show that supply chain efficiency, supply chain resilience, and entrepreneurship strengthen the policy’s positive effect on digital–green development. Heterogeneity analysis suggests that the policy effect varies systematically with firm size, market competitiveness, and information asymmetry. This study provides micro-level evidence on how supply chain innovation policy can promote firms’ digital–green transformation and offers useful implications for policies aimed at improving firm competitiveness and supporting sustainable development.