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Digital product imports and export product quality: Firm-level evidence from China

Author

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  • Zhang, Hongsheng
  • Liu, Qingqing
  • Wei, Yueling

Abstract

Based on the Statistical Classification of the Digital Economy and Its Core Industries (2021) released by the National Bureau of Statistics of China and the information and communications technology products released by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development to construct a digital product catalog manually, this paper analyzes the impact of digital product imports on Chinese firms' export product quality using a combined data set of the Annual Survey of Industrial Production and China Custom Records from 2000 to 2013. The results show that digital product imports have a significant positive effect on a firm's export product quality. To address potential endogeneity, this paper uses a series of instrumental variables (IVs) and constructs a multi-timing difference-in-differences model using the firm's first digital product import as exogenous shock, and finds strong supporting evidence. Digital product imports improve the quality of export products through three mechanisms: technology spillovers, productivity, and information-searching capabilities. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that digital product imports have greater impacts on foreign-owned and capital-intensive firms, and digital intermediate imports play a bigger role than do digital non-intermediate imports. The results of this paper have important implications for developing countries that wish to improve the quality of exports through digital trade.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhang, Hongsheng & Liu, Qingqing & Wei, Yueling, 2023. "Digital product imports and export product quality: Firm-level evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:chieco:v:79:y:2023:i:c:s1043951x23000664
    DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2023.101981
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Liu, Yunxia & Li, Fuping, 2024. "Estimation of industry-level basic digital capital services in China: A variable depreciation rate estimation method based on DSGE," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    2. Ou, Xiaojing & Zhao, Weikang & Zheng, Zhiqiang & Mohiuddin, Muhammad, 2025. "Towards green trade: Digital economy and export quality of green products," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    3. Jia Sun & Sasa Yang & Jincheng Li, 2025. "The Impact of Digitalization on Technological Structure of China’s Exports: An Empirical Test Based on the Panel Threshold Effect Model," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 16(2), pages 10004-10020, June.
    4. Pang, Suqin & Li, Zhaohua & Wang, Yong, 2024. "Digital technology and domestic value-added ratio in export: Evidence from China's pilot zones for integrating informatization and industrialization," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 424-439.
    5. Yang, Jijun & Liu, Yifan & Dai, Feng & Ni, Jinlan, 2025. "The effects of consumer goods tariff reductions on market competition in China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    6. Xinfeng Chang & Kaisheng Fu & Momoh Conteh, 2025. "How Digitalization Impacts the High-Quality Development of the Manufacturing Industry: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(12), pages 1-27, June.
    7. Qin Zhu & Haijing Yu & Zhimei Wan, 2024. "Can digital economy promote urban export sophistication? Evidence from China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 19(11), pages 1-19, November.
    8. Li, Weiqing, 2025. "The impact of robot adoption on quality of export products: Evidence from Chinese industrial enterprises," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    9. Kim, Kyunam & Chung, Hyuk, 2024. "Impact of heterogenous capabilities on export performance amid the digital transformation," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    10. Wei, Yueling & Zhang, Hongsheng & Zhao, Zihan, 2024. "Digitalization and pollution: Evidence from South Africa," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    11. Wang, Mengying & Ren, Siyu & Xie, Guo, 2024. "Going “green trade”: Assessing the impact of digital technology application on green product export," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    12. Liu, Jiaqi & Qin, Chuan & Chu, Xiaojing, 2025. "Development of corporate artificial intelligence and the quality of export products," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    13. Ding, Yibing & Zhang, Xiaoou & Liu, Ziwei & Sun, Yining, 2025. "The impact of the host country's imports of Chinese digital products on carbon decoupling status," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 94(PA).
    14. Wanying Rao & Pingfeng Liu, 2024. "Can Digital Innovation Improve Green Total Factor Productivity: Evidence from Digital Patents of China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-21, May.
    15. Zengdong Cao & Qin Tu & Nichola Latoya Williams, 2024. "E‐commerce, Pandemic Shock, and the Survival of Small and Medium Enterprises," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 32(5), pages 113-139, September.
    16. Sumaira Saeed & Arshad Ali Bhati & Mairajul Haq, 2025. "The Mediating Role of Firm Growth and TFP Growth in Export Quality-Trade Flows Nexus Evidence from Pakistani Firms," Journal of Economic Sciences, Federal Urdu University Islamabad, Department of Economics, vol. 4(1), pages 53-70, June.
    17. Ma, Dan & Zhu, Yanjin & Yang, Yuhan, 2024. "How Green finance affects export production quality: Fresh evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    18. Hu, Xiaotian & Yin, Xiaopeng, 2025. "Understanding the product structure of exporters: The role of intellectual property protection in export origins," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    19. Yanne Gabriella Velomasy & Hongsheng Zhang & Laixun Zhao, 2026. "Imported Intermediate Digital Inputs and Income Inequality," Discussion Paper Series DP2026-01, Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration, Kobe University.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • F10 - International Economics - - Trade - - - General
    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • L15 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Information and Product Quality
    • F41 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - Open Economy Macroeconomics

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