The enabling effects of digital technology on the quality of firm development: Insights and implications

Dingqing Wang, Hongwei Liao and Xinyue Wang

International Review of Financial Analysis, 2024, vol. 96, issue PA

Abstract: Firms are the fundamental units driving the development of regional systems, and their enhancement in overall strength determines the effectiveness of industrial collaborative innovation networks, serving as a crucial support for the high-quality development of urban agglomerations. In the digital era, how firms can improve their overall strength to enhance their supporting role in the construction of regional industrial networks is a matter of significant interest. Therefore, as a new driving force for firm development, exploring the impact of digital technology on firm development quality is of great importance. From the perspective of the enabling effects of digital technology, this paper takes A-share listed firms within China's five major urban agglomerations as the research subjects, utilizing panel data from 2012 to 2022. Through theoretical analysis and empirical testing using various econometric methods—including the fixed effects model, two-stage least squares regression model, and mediation effect model—the study investigates the impact of digital technology application on firm development quality and its underlying mechanisms. This study finds that the application of digital technology significantly enhances the quality of firm development, and as the level of digital technology application deepens, firms' development continues to improve. From the perspective of enabling factors, digital technology application can promote the improvement of firm development quality by activating innovation vitality, alleviating financing constraints, and reducing human resource management costs. The heterogeneity analysis results reveal that the impact of digital technology application on firm development quality exhibits various heterogeneous characteristics, including differences in urban agglomeration, ownership structure, and firm size.

Keywords: Digital technology; Quality of firm development; Enabling effects; Urban agglomeration; Development economics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D22 G30 O33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1057521924004873
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:finana:v:96:y:2024:i:pa:s1057521924004873

DOI: 10.1016/j.irfa.2024.103555

Access Statistics for this article

International Review of Financial Analysis is currently edited by B.M. Lucey

More articles in International Review of Financial Analysis from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().