Impact of Digital Transformation on Sustainable Development of Port Performance: Evidence from Tangshan Port

Yuanxu Li, Xin Tian (), Zhaoxu Lu and Junfeng Wu
Additional contact information
Yuanxu Li: School of Economics and Management, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
Xin Tian: School of Economics and Management, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
Zhaoxu Lu: School of Economics and Management, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
Junfeng Wu: Shanghai WinJoin Information Technology Co., Ltd., Shanghai 200126, China

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 15, 1-21

Abstract: Although the importance of digital transformation in contemporary port development has been widely acknowledged, there is little empirical research on the extent to which it promotes sustainable development by reducing costs and increasing efficiency. This study takes the digital transformation of one of the largest ports in northern China—Tangshan Port—as an example, as the application of digital technologies has greatly improved its operational efficiency. By using cargo throughput and container throughput data from Tangshan Port as the experimental group and from Qinhuangdao Port as the control group, difference-in-differences regression models with monthly data and port fixed effects were adopted to clarify the impact of digital transformation on sustainability for different types of cargo throughput, as well as the differential effects of policy impact on port production efficiency and economic performance in the short and long term, in order to examine the impact of digitalization on port operation performance. Our findings demonstrate that digital transformation has a significant positive impact on both port cargo and container throughput, with the long-term effect surpassing the short-term effect. Additionally, regional economic level positively moderates policy impact. These findings provide critical evidence that ports can balance economic growth and environmental sustainability within sustainable development frameworks.

Keywords: digital transformation; port performance; difference-in-differences; empirical study (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/15/6902/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/15/6902/ (text/html)

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:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:15:p:6902-:d:1712884

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().