Digital Technology Application and Enterprise Export Performance: A Case Study of Enterprises in Zhongguancun National Innovation Demonstration Zone
Abstract: The application of digital technology is an important measure to promote the digital transformation of trade entities and achieve high-quality development of foreign trade. This paper empirically studies the impact of digital technology application on enterprise export performance using data from enterprises in Zhongguancun National Innovation Demonstration Zone from 2014 to 2019. The study finds that the application of digital technology significantly promotes enterprise export growth and export upgrading, manifested in the increase of export probability, total export value, export value of high-tech products, and the proportion of high-tech products in total exports. However, the impact of different digital technologies on enterprise exports is heterogeneous. Digital technologies at the underlying technology level are conducive to the export performance of high-tech products, while digital technologies at the technology application level mainly contribute to the expansion of enterprise export scale. In addition, the application of digital technology has a greater effect on the export growth and upgrading of private enterprises and large-to-medium-sized enterprises. The mechanism test shows that the application of digital technology promotes enterprise export growth and upgrading through the reshaping of technological paradigms and the optimization of employment skill structures. Further discussion reveals that there is a linkage between the state's innovation-oriented tax reduction policies and the application of digital technology in promoting enterprise exports. This paper provides a certain degree of policy reference value for better leveraging the role of digital technology in expanding high-level opening up to the outside world.
