How Does Urban Green Data Center Policy Empower Corporate Energy Utilization Efficiency? Evidence from China

How Does Urban Green Data Center Policy Empower Corporate Energy Utilization Efficiency? Evidence from China | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article How Does Urban Green Data Center Policy Empower Corporate Energy Utilization Efficiency? Evidence from China Guoliang Wang, Haoxuan Sheng, Yuchen Lu This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8754695/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 8 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Against the backdrop of China’s “dual-carbon” goals and the deepening national digital transformation strategy, urban green data center development has emerged as a key policy instrument for improving firms’ energy utilization efficiency and advancing the green and low-carbon transition. Drawing on unbalanced firm-year panel that links Chinese A-share listed firms to prefecture-level cities from 2012 to 2024, this study employs a staggered-adoption difference-in-differences (DID) framework to systematically estimate the effect of urban green data center policy on corporate energy utilization efficiency and to clarify the mechanisms at play. The results show that the policy significantly enhances firms’ energy utilization efficiency. Mechanism tests suggest that the effect operates primarily through two channels: improved ESG performance and policy-induced increases in firms’ green investment. Heterogeneity analyses indicate that the policy impact is stronger in resource-based cities, in more competitive industries, and among mature-stage firms. Moderation analyses further show that executives’ green cognition significantly strengthens the policy’s marginal effect on energy utilization efficiency. By contrast, executives’ digital cognition tends to weaken the policy effect when considered alone; however, when executives simultaneously exhibit high levels of both green and digital cognition, their synergistic alignment yields a significantly positive enabling effect. Specifically, an integrated cognitive profile helps alleviate the adjustment costs of early-stage digital transformation and fosters integrated innovation between green and digital technologies, thereby further reinforcing the policy’s enabling role. In addition, as successive pilot batches expand, the policy’s diffusion effect exhibits a nonlinear trajectory, increasing initially and then declining thereafter. Building on these findings, this study derives policy implications and provides China-specific empirical evidence and managerial insights for developing countries seeking to achieve energy transition and sustainable development while unlocking digital dividends. Business and commerce/Economics Social science/Economics Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental social sciences green data center policy corporate energy utilization efficiency executive green cognition executive digital cognition Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files EmpiricalAnalysis.zip Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviews received at journal 07 May, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 24 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 24 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 12 Mar, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 06 Mar, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 04 Mar, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 12 Feb, 2026 First submitted to journal 12 Feb, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8754695","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":604091495,"identity":"b14c7092-096a-416f-a711-b77c760389bf","order_by":0,"name":"Guoliang Wang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Hangzhou Dianzi University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Guoliang","middleName":"","lastName":"Wang","suffix":""},{"id":604091496,"identity":"11563b35-3f77-4d40-94ea-50d845ec4bcf","order_by":1,"name":"Haoxuan Sheng","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAzUlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACef72AwckKmzq9x9vPkCcFsMZZxIfWJxJY2w4cyyBSGsOJBgbVLYcZmy4kWNAnA7GhgNpEjcb0pgZG3I+3njDYCen20BACztz4zHJmTts2JgZzm62nMOQbGx2gAhbpCXPpPGwMfZuk+ZhOJC4jZAWoF/MpP+2HZbgYeZ5RrQWYwPJtsMGEmw8bMRpAQeyxJm0BAMeNmPLOQZE+AUWlQkG8o8f3nhTYSdHUAsKkOAhMmqQtZCqYxSMglEwCkYEAACoRUb0EjawugAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Hangzhou Dianzi University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Haoxuan","middleName":"","lastName":"Sheng","suffix":""},{"id":604091497,"identity":"a6ce08b0-7b82-47cc-be11-7e3a37c40c66","order_by":2,"name":"Yuchen Lu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Hangzhou Dianzi University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yuchen","middleName":"","lastName":"Lu","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-02-01 08:11:07","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8754695/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8754695/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":104498284,"identity":"8699e4f0-dbb6-4c99-a6d3-38bd1c8cdca6","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-12 13:12:16","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":850050,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8754695/v1_covered_e7db569b-ffda-4cce-8c80-42ca6759e23b.pdf"},{"id":104498171,"identity":"706ccf0b-eb57-4588-8a86-d3e345958d84","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-12 13:11:49","extension":"zip","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":1376847,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"EmpiricalAnalysis.zip","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8754695/v1/b39e565fd944edad2b3e5107.zip"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"How Does Urban Green Data Center Policy Empower Corporate Energy Utilization Efficiency? 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