Internet technology adoption and firm energy efficiency: Evidence from China

Combining the Chinese industrial enterprise database and the green development database, we examine the effect of internet technology adoption on energy efficiency. The results show that the internet is positively associated with firm energy efficiency. This causal nexus is valid after a series of robustness checks. Mechanism tests suggest that internet technology adoption affects energy efficiency mainly through advancing technological innovation, attenuating financing constraints, and correcting resource misallocation. The stimulus effect is bigger for non-state-owned enterprises, non-exporting firms, technology-intensive industries, and firms located in southern China. Ulteriorly, the internet can significantly magnify the inhibitory effect of energy efficiency on pollutant emission.