The “twin transition” towards sustainability: Synergistic impact of information infrastructure on firms’ digital and green transformations

Driven by climate uncertainty and carbon targets, firms increasingly adopt digitalization and greening as strategic responses. However, the role of information infrastructure in synergizing these two trajectories remains insufficiently explored. Using panel data of Chinese A-share listed firms from 2007 to 2021, this study examines how information infrastructure affects digital-green synergistic transition of firms (DGST). The results show that information infrastructure significantly promotes DGST, which remains robust across a series of robustness tests and endogeneity treatments. Additional interaction analyses provide direct evidence that digitalization and greening mutually reinforce each other, confirming the complementarity-based mechanism. Further analyses suggest that this effect operates through improvements in external resource conditions, including talent supply, digital finance, and the innovation environment. In addition, entrepreneurial spirit enhances firms' ability to translate corresponding advantages into DGST outcomes. Heterogeneity analyses reveal that the effect of information infrastructure on DGST is stronger in eastern and central regions, high-tech and non-heavy-pollution industries, and non-state-owned firms. These findings highlight the importance of information infrastructure and provide actionable insights for policymakers to leverage information infrastructure as a strategic tool for fostering firm-level sustainability and achieving global environmental goals. © 2026 Elsevier Ltd.