Knowledge management and sustainable innovation for green finance: evidence from Asia
摘要
This study investigates the relationship among digital sustainability, knowledge management capacity, and green finance in Asian countries during the period spanning 2007 to 2023. Previous research has explored the role of digital transformation in promoting sustainability; these studies are predominantly firm-level and lack insight into how macro-level knowledge infrastructure enables or constrains digital technologies in advancing green finance. Recently, the emphasis on digital sustainability and green finance has increased in the Asian continent, primarily because many economies in this region are developing or emerging. These economies largely rely on existing resources and carbon-intensive technologies. Utilizing quantile regression to assess distributional effects and the system generalized method of moments to address potential endogeneity and dynamic panel bias, the study aims to shed light on how knowledge management capacity contributes to the advancement of green finance through digital sustainability. The findings reveal that digital sustainability has a limited or statistically weak direct effect on green finance in the absence of sufficient national-level knowledge management capacity. However, Knowledge Management Capacity significantly affects this relationship, enabling digital technologies to translate into financial sustainability gains more effectively. Countries with stronger research systems, Information and Communication Technology infrastructure, and innovation capabilities exhibit a more robust digital-to-green finance linkage. This study also offers policy insights for Asian economies aiming to strengthen their green finance ecosystems through digital and knowledge-based transformation.