Corporate Governance Research in the Digital Economy: New Paradigms and Frontiers of Practice

Digital technologies are increasingly changing the nature of competition and generating externalities that impact society. While the growth of a digital and sustainable economy may increase firm performance, these new trends also raise potential challenges for companies pertaining to corporate governance structures. In this paper, the impact of digitalization on corporate governance practices is discussed from the perspective of developing technologies and institutionalization, revealing potential effects, transformations, and steps to take. Our findings indicate that the development of the digital economy can facilitate enterprise digital transformation, enhance agency efficiency, and increase online media attention, thereby significantly promoting CSR performance for local firms. Digital transformation has an effect on the information quality and corporate governance, reducing agency costs, improving internal control, and attracting more analysts’ tracking, so as to build an effective trust mechanism between firms and the external market. The research conclusion of this article is helpful in analyzing the policy effectiveness of current corporate information disclosure regulations, and also provides a basis for the subsequent formulation of relevant disclosure policies. In addition to its theoretical significance, this paper also has important policy implications.