Toward a Greener Future: How and When Blockchain and Digitization Drive Green Finance
研究区块链技术如何通过透明度和信息安全意识影响中小企业绿色金融实践，并考察数字化的调节作用，为新兴市场政策制定者提供实证依据。
ABSTRACT The COVID‐19 pandemic has significantly affected small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) and poses challenges in acquiring financing. Growing green investments require transformative infrastructure and innovative green financing solutions. Blockchain technology is ideal for delivering green environmental information because it provides real‐time, shareable, and transparent data on an immutable ledger that is accessible to network members. Drawing on the technology–organization–environment (TOE) framework and stakeholder theory, this study examines the mechanisms linking blockchain technology adoption to green finance practices, such as the mediating roles of transparency and information security awareness. Furthermore, the moderating effect of digitization on these relationships was investigated. We collected multisourced and time‐lagged survey data from SMEs in three phases. The empirical results show that blockchain technology adoption positively influences green finance, and transparency and information security awareness mediate this relationship. Furthermore, digitization acts as a significant moderator in the relationship between transparency, information security awareness, and green finance. This study extends the existing theories and contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence for the TOE framework and stakeholder theory, highlighting the significance of integrating transparency, information security awareness, and digitization in the context of blockchain technology adoption and green finance in SMEs. These results are particularly useful for advancing environmental sustainability in emerging markets and offer valuable insights for policymakers and practitioners.