Effects of global value chain along with digitalization on green growth

The green growth impact of global value chain embedding becomes more complex in the context of digital transformation. Based on partially linear functional-coefficient model, this paper used panel data for 16 Chinese industrial sectors from 2007 to 2020 to assess the impact and underlying mechanisms of global value chain on green total factor productivity considering the moderating role of digitalization. The results revealed that global value chain position and backward participation caused green productivity to decrease, while forward participation had a non-significant effect. As the digitalization level rose, the impact of global value chain position on green productivity changed from negative to positive. Moreover, green productivity was increasingly inhibited by forward participation, but the adverse effects of backward participation gradually subsided. Actually, digitalization boosted green technological progress effects of global value chain position and backward participation, but impeded the technological progress of forward participation, thus affecting green productivity. Therefore, to achieve green growth, China's industrial sector must accelerate the synergistic development of digital transformation and global value chain, and focus on the different impacts of participation modes.