Do digital small and medium-sized enterprises drive greeneconomic growth in the European Union?

Abstract

Objective: The article aims to investigate whether digitalisation among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) contributes to green economic growth (GEG) across European Union countries, focusing on environmental performance outcomes.

Research Design & Methods: Using panel data from 25 European Union countries for the period 2010-2023, we applied fixed-effects, moderation, and panel threshold regression models. Digitalisation was proxied by the share of enterprises with e-commerce turnover above 1%, while GEG was measured via adjusted net savings. The analysis controlled for energy intensity and globalisation, and tests interactions with trade openness and R&D investment.

Findings: The results revealed a robust, positive, and statistically significant relationship between SME digitalisation and GEG. Higher trade openness (interaction coefficient = 0.148) and R&D intensity (interaction coefficient = 0.058) amplified the impact.

Implications & Recommendations: Policymakers should treat SME digitalisation as both an innovation and an environmental strategy. Support should focus on scaling digital capabilities in traditional sectors, improving access to R&D resources, and fostering enabling conditions like trade integration and green startup support. Investments in digital infrastructure, skills training, ESG metrics, and regional innovation hubs are essential for realising the synergistic benefits of the green-digital transition.

Contribution & Value Added: This study shows that SME digitalisation is an important driver of environmental performance, but its impact depends on wider institutional and structural conditions. By combining fixed-effects, moderation, and threshold models, the study offers original evidence of a nonlinear digitalization-sustainability relationship, demonstrating that environmental gains intensify once SMEs reach higher levels of digital maturity. The study further identifies trade openness and R&D intensity as mechanisms that amplify these effects, contributing theoretically by clarifying how structural contexts shape the translation of digital capabilities into green economic outcomes.

Keywords

Digital SMEs, green growth, trade openness, R&D investment, e-commerce, environmental performance, EU policy

Author Biography

Aleksy Kwilinski

PhD, D.Sc. in Economics, is an internationally recognised scholar, economist, and entrepreneur with a distinguished record of leadership in academia, research, and innovation. He serves as the Director of the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations at WSB University in Dabrowa Gornicza, Poland, and as a Researcher at the London Academy of Science and Business, United Kingdom. With over 400 scientific publications, he has significantly contributed to the fields of the information economy, artificial intelligence, strategic management, development strategies, sustainable development, development management, energy management, and migration policy. He is an active member of editorial boards for leading international journals, serves as an expert in economic, parliamentary, governmental, and local government advisory bodies, and participates in international research consortia addressing pressing economic and social issues worldwide. He is also a member of the Royal Economic Society (London) and an Academician of the Academy of Economic Sciences of Ukraine (Kyiv, Ukraine). Respected for his cross-sector expertise, global perspective, and ability to translate research into impactful solutions, Prof. Kwilinski continues to advance dialogue and cooperation between academia, policy, and industry across Europe and beyond.

Zbigniew Makieła

PhD, D.Sc., Professor, is the author of more than 200 scientific publications, books, and textbooks in the fields of innovation management, entrepreneurship, and regional studies. His notable works include Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management (CH Beck), Step into Entrepreneurship (a textbook for secondary schools), Territorial Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and The Region in Conditions of Competition (CH Beck). He is a member of the Economic Sciences Commission of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences in Krakow, the Commission of Sciences and Statistics of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Krakow Branch), and the Polish Economic Society. He also serves as an expert for the Ministry of Education and Science of Poland in matters related to teachers’ professional advancement. His research interests include entrepreneurship, innovation management, academic entrepreneurship, the innovative university, metropolitan and regional governance, Smart Cities, organizational learning, and the management of local and regional economies.

Oleksii Lyulyov

PhD, Director of Academic and Research Institute of Business, Economics and Management at Sumy State University, Ukraine. He earned his D.Sc. in Economics in 2019. He has been working at WSB University in Poland since 2022, at EKA University in Latvia since 2025. Oleksii Lyulyov has published more than 200 scientific papers, including 100 papers in international peer-reviewed journals indexed by Scopus and/or Web of Science. His research interests include investment policy, country marketing policy, country image, macroeconomic stability, innovative development, sustainable economic development, strategy development, modelling and forecasting development trends.

Tetyana Pimonenko

PhD, Head of the Marketing Department at Sumy State University, Ukraine. She has earned a D. Sc. scientific degree in 2020. She has been working at WSB University in Poland since 2022, at EKA University in Latvia since 2025. Tetyana has published more than 200 scientific papers, including 100 papers in international peer-reviewed journals indexed by Scopus and/or Web of Science. She is a scholarship holder of international programmes (Fulbright, Latvian Government, ITEC, Slovak Government) and has been a participant in over 10 international training programmes and seminars. Her research interests include investment policy, green marketing, green brand, green investment, alternative energy resources, green economics, sustainable development and education.

Rafal Rebilas

Ph.D., a Polish economist specialising in financial market products and cor-porate investments, boasts over two decades of experience in finance. His career includes managing sales structures in top financial institutions such as Getin Holding SA Group, PKO BP SA, and Bank Zachodni WBK SA from 2001 to 2011. Beginning in 1996 at Bank Handlowy w Warszawie SA, he later enhanced his skills at Dresdner Bank Luxembourg SA. Dr. Rebilas, who earned his doctorate in economic sciences in 2001 from the University of Economics in Katowice, also excels in recruitment, mentoring, and negotiation within the banking sector. He has been a lecturer at WSB University since 2005 and served as Deputy Dean and later Vice-Rector for International Cooperation. His academic achievements include being honoured as Doctor Honoris Causa by the Poltava State Agrarian Academy and a professorship at Kyiv International University. His expertise makes him a prominent figure in both academic and financial circles.

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