How Do Environmental Regulations, Technological Innovation, and Transformation Intentions Enhance the Green Development Level of Real Estate Enterprises? A Study on Synergistic Effects from a Configurational Perspective

While driving rapid economic growth, China’s real estate industry has also caused severe environmental issues. The green development and transformation of this sector have become crucial for achieving the “dual carbon” goals. Accurately evaluating the green development efficiency of real estate enterprises and analyzing pathways for improvement are therefore essential. The green development efficiency of real estate enterprises was calculated in this study. Building upon this foundation, the allocative effects of environmental regulations, technological innovation, and transformation willingness on efficiency improvement were explored. The findings reveal: (1) The average green efficiency of the sample enterprises is 0.758, showing an overall increasing trend, but with significant inter-firm differences; (2) Three pathways for green transformation exist: co-driven by environmental investment and transition intentions, co-driven by R&D innovation and environmental penalties, and driven solely by environmental regulations. (3) The government can effectively enhance corporate green development efficiency by establishing appropriate environmental regulation intensity. Enterprises, in turn, need to increase innovation investment and transformation intentions while establishing environmental management systems.