Internet development, resource allocation and total factor productivity: Empirical evidence from China’s listed manufacturing enterprises

Since the beginning of the 21st century, the new generation of information technology represented by the Internet has swept the world, driving a new round of scientific and technological revolution as well as industrial transformation. In this context, an in-depth discussion of the relationship between Internet development and Total Factor Productivity (TFP) is of great significance for promoting the high-quality development of the economy. Based on 2006 to 2020 annual reports of listed manufacturing enterprises in China, this paper takes resource allocation into the analysis framework of the impact of Internet development on manufacturing TFP to analyse the internal mechanism. The conclusions reveal that Internet development has not only a direct positive effect on manufacturing TFP but also a significant indirect promoting effect on manufacturing TFP by improving resource allocation efficiency. The resource allocation effect of Internet development on manufacturing TFP is mainly realized through the improvement of the allocation of labour factors. Furthermore, resource allocation can strengthen the nonlinear spillover effects of Internet development on manufacturing TFP. Therefore, enough attention should be paid to the improvement of resource allocation in the process of relying on Internet development to improve manufacturing TFP.