Digital transformation and corporate environmental performance: The moderating role of board characteristics

Abstract Digital transformation, board characteristics, and environmental performance are increasingly important in the field of corporate sustainability. However, despite the growing literature on digital transformation, there is a paucity of literature that considers board characteristics. This paper aims to fill this gap by exploring the relationship between digital transformation and environmental performance from the perspective of board characteristics. Chinese listed companies from 2010 to 2019 were taken as the original data, the moderating effect of the board characteristics was tested by using the moderating effect model. We find that digital transformation can significantly improve corporate environmental performance. A low willingness to digital transformation was showed in the board of directors with age diversity, nationality diversity, shareholding concentration, and political connections. In contrast, digital transformation strategies were preferred in the boards with more female directors and higher educational backgrounds. Our study is of significant value for companies undergoing digital transformation.