How to reshape the international competitive advantage of Chinese manufacturing enterprises: A perspective of input servitization

Fenglan Chen and Shanshan Wang

Economic Analysis and Policy, 2025, vol. 85, issue C, 1197-1215

Abstract: In recent years, manufacturing enterprises in developing countries, including China, have encountered challenges in the global division of labor and competitive strategies, highlighting the urgent need to reshape their international competitive advantages. While input servitization has emerged as a promising pathway, its impact on international competitiveness remains understudied in developing contexts. This study leverages global input-output data to measure Chinese manufacturing input servitization levels and investigates their influence on enterprises' international competitive advantages, measured through internationalization breadth and depth. The findings reveal that input servitization can significantly enhance both the breadth and depth of enterprises' internationalization by improving efficiency and product quality, particularly benefiting private-owned and growing-stage enterprises. Although financial constraints may moderate this effect, strong risk-taking ability, industrial chain linkages, and absorption capacities amplify the positive impact of input servitization on internationalization. Moreover, the study demonstrates that domestically sourced services effectively drive enterprises' internationalization, whereas services from developed countries yield benefits only for enterprises possessing robust absorption capacities. These findings advance the literature on servitization and international business by revealing the underlying mechanisms and boundary conditions through which input servitization shapes international competitive advantages, while offering practical implications for developing countries striving to enhance their global competitiveness.

Keywords: Input servitization; Manufacturing enterprises; Breadth of internationalization; Depth of internationalization; International competitive advantage (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D22 F21 F23 L60 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0313592625000219
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecanpo:v:85:y:2025:i:c:p:1197-1215

DOI: 10.1016/j.eap.2025.01.023

Access Statistics for this article

Economic Analysis and Policy is currently edited by Clevo Wilson

More articles in Economic Analysis and Policy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().