Effect of Development Zone Policy on Enterprise Environmental Performance in China: The Role of Digitalization and Greenization

Abstract

In the era of digitalization, promoting enterprises’ digital and green transformations has become crucial for improving their environmental performance. Using the scope of the development zones in the Yangtze River Delta and the Chinese Industrial Enterprise Pollutant Emission Database, this study investigates how development zones influence enterprises’ environmental performance, with particular attention to the roles of digitalization and greenization. Instrumental variables, propensity score matching, and placebo tests are employed to ensure the robustness of the baseline results. It is found that development zones significantly reduce enterprises’ SO ₂ emission intensity. Specifically, enterprises located within development zones exhibit 2.08% lower SO ₂ emission intensity compared with those outside, and this result remains valid after precluding potential endogeneity, self-selection bias, and randomness. This positive effect also spills over into adjacent areas, significantly lowering the SO ₂ emission intensity of enterprises in the 0–500 m buffer zones extending from the development zones’ boundaries. Furthermore, heterogeneity is observed across levels, types, and dominant industries of development zones, with the emission reduction effects more pronounced in National Development Zones, Economic and Technological Development Zones, and zones dominated by pharmaceutical and information technology industries. Digitalization and greenization of enterprises are analyzed theoretically and empirically as the key channels for development zones influencing enterprises’ pollution behavior. This study holds practical insights for promoting digitalization and greenization of enterprises through place-based policies in developing countries.