IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecanpo/v90y2026icp799-817.html

Institutional Reform and Enterprise Digitalization: A Quasi-Natural Experiment in Cross-Border E-Commerce Pilot Zones

Author

Listed:
  • Bi, Wenjing
  • Min, Yue
  • Xu, Weiyin
  • Zhang, Xiaotao

Abstract

Enterprise digital transformation is constrained by technological limitations but also by costs, incentives, and other factors shaped by institutional environment. However, the role of institutional innovation remains underexplored. Using 2012-2023 data on Chinese A-share listed firms, we exploit cross-border e-commerce pilot zones as a quasi-natural experiment to examine the impact of institutional reform on digital transformation. Results show the reform promotes digital transformation by reducing institutional transaction costs, improving the digital environment, and expanding market opportunities. Further analyses show the effects are driven by local institutional innovation rather than spatial spillovers and enhance firm efficiency and innovation. Heterogeneity analyses reveal that institutional reform effects are stronger in firms with higher digitalization, lower information transparency, private enterprises, and regions with better digital infrastructure and southeast in China. The identified mechanisms and empirical evidence show how institutional reform promotes digital transformation and offer policy insights for other economies advancing digital economic development.

Suggested Citation

  • Bi, Wenjing & Min, Yue & Xu, Weiyin & Zhang, Xiaotao, 2026. "Institutional Reform and Enterprise Digitalization: A Quasi-Natural Experiment in Cross-Border E-Commerce Pilot Zones," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 799-817.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecanpo:v:90:y:2026:i:c:p:799-817
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eap.2026.01.025
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S031359262600024X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.eap.2026.01.025?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecanpo:v:90:y:2026:i:c:p:799-817. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/economic-analysis-and-policy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.