IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/finlet/v73y2025ics1544612324016581.html

The impact of digital finance on export competitiveness: Evidence from Chinese manufacturing enterprises

Author

Listed:
  • Tao, Xu
  • Cai, Wanlin

Abstract

This paper utilizes unbalanced panel data from the Chinese Customs Database and A-share listed companies from 2012 to 2015 to investigate the relationship and mechanisms between digital finance and the export competitiveness. The study finds that digital finance significantly enhances the export competitiveness, particularly through the increased breadth of coverage and depth of use of digital finance. Regarding the transmission mechanism, digital finance promotes firms' innovation development, thereby improving the quality and competitiveness of their export products. From the heterogeneity analysis, digital finance has a more pronounced positive impact on the export competitiveness of non-state-owned enterprises compared to state-owned enterprises.

Suggested Citation

  • Tao, Xu & Cai, Wanlin, 2025. "The impact of digital finance on export competitiveness: Evidence from Chinese manufacturing enterprises," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:73:y:2025:i:c:s1544612324016581
    DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2024.106629
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1544612324016581
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.frl.2024.106629?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.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pengpeng Yue & Aslihan Gizem Korkmaz & Zhichao Yin & Haigang Zhou, 2022. "The rise of digital finance: Financial inclusion or debt trap," Papers 2201.09221, arXiv.org.
    2. Haichao Fan & Yao Amber Li & Stephen R. Yeaple, 2015. "Trade Liberalization, Quality, and Export Prices," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 97(5), pages 1033-1051, December.
    3. Wang, Hainan & Liu, Fengshuo, 2024. "Digital finance and enterprise innovation efficiency: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    4. Honohan, Patrick, 2005. "Measuring microfinance access : building on existing cross-country data," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3606, The World Bank.
    5. Bas, Maria & Strauss-Kahn, Vanessa, 2015. "Input-trade liberalization, export prices and quality upgrading," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(2), pages 250-262.
    6. Christian Broda & David E. Weinstein, 2006. "Globalization and the Gains From Variety," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 121(2), pages 541-585.
    7. Wang, Dingqing & Liao, Hongwei & Wang, Xinyue, 2024. "The enabling effects of digital technology on the quality of firm development: Insights and implications," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 96(PA).
    8. Tian, Guangning & Li, Bo & Cheng, Yue, 2022. "Does digital transformation matter for corporate risk-taking?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    9. Yue, Pengpeng & Korkmaz, Aslihan Gizem & Yin, Zhichao & Zhou, Haigang, 2022. "The rise of digital finance: Financial inclusion or debt trap?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 47(PA).
    10. Lee, In & Shin, Yong Jae, 2018. "Fintech: Ecosystem, business models, investment decisions, and challenges," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 35-46.
    11. Hao, Jing & Peng, Mengzu & He, Wenjia, 2023. "Digital finance development and bank liquidity creation," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    12. Ciani, Andrea & Bartoli, Francesca, 2015. "Export quality upgrading under credit constraints," DICE Discussion Papers 191, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).
    13. Marc J. Melitz, 2003. "The Impact of Trade on Intra-Industry Reallocations and Aggregate Industry Productivity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 71(6), pages 1695-1725, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Lev A. Bulanov & Alexei V. Kalina & Vadim V. Krivorotov, 2025. "Clustering of Russian Manufacturing Companies by Indicators of Their Financial Condition Using Machine Learning Technologies," Journal of Applied Economic Research, Graduate School of Economics and Management, Ural Federal University, vol. 24(2), pages 584-621.
    2. Yang, Xiaojun & Zhu, Xinru & Yue, Zhonggang, 2025. "Institutional openness and enterprises’ export competitiveness: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 85(PE).
    3. Shen, Li & Zhang, Lishu & Jiang, Yuanyuan & Wang, Sen, 2025. "Can the development of digital finance enhance the quality of export products? An analysis based on heterogeneity and moderating effects," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 85(PB).
    4. Liu, Xiang & Zhou, Zhichao & Gu, Xianhua, 2025. "How does digital finance promote enterprise exports? An empirical analysis of FDI and trade structure," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 86(PF).
    5. Li, Zuozhi & Xiao, Yuliang & Qiu, Peng & Wang, Dingqing, 2025. "Digital finance, market position enhancement and high-quality enterprise development: Evidence from China’s Sports Enterprises," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 85(PD).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wang, Deli & Liu, Xiaoyuan & Hu, Shiyang & Wu, Shangrui, 2025. "The value of digital government transformation: Evidence from R&D subsidy efficiency in China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    2. Tang, Chaoli & Dong, Shuyun & Zhou, Rui, 2025. "The impact of digitalization on corporate resilience," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    3. Xu, Zhiyi & Yang, Jindi, 2025. "Impact of digital finance on rural industry revitalization," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    4. Liang, Guibao & Xia, Qiao & Zhang, Lijie, 2025. "Nonlinear influence of digital finance on green economic efficiency," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    5. Gao, Jie & Jin, Xingye & Li, Tao & Nguyen, Thithuha, 2025. "The effect of digital technology adoption on managerial myopia: An empirical discovery based on machine Learning," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    6. Zhu, Lijun, 2025. "The influence of digital transformation on Chinese firms' outward foreign direct investment," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    7. Tang, Xinhui & Du, Shujun & Deng, Wenwen, 2025. "Business innovation in digital startups: A case study of an AI startup," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    8. Ayadi, Rym & Chiaramonte, Laura & Cucinelli, Doriana & Migliavacca, Milena, 2025. "Digitalization and banks' efficiency: Evidence from a European analysis," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    9. Zheng, Sufang & Huang, Siming & Deng, Xu, 2025. "Digital inclusive finance and local government debt: Examining the mechanism of impact on high-quality rural development from a macroeconomic perspective," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    10. Xiao, Yu & Wu, Junxian & Tu, Yongqian, 2025. "Intensity of environmental regulation, integration of digital and physical realms, and level of corporate green development," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    11. Xing, Manjiang & Gong, Chi & Moon, Gyu-Hyen & Ge, Xiaohong, 2025. "Digital economy, dual innovation capability and enterprise labor productivity," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    12. Zhang, Xinyu & Liu, Yixuan & Yu, Shaoze & Lin, Ouwen & Meng, Lu, 2025. "Impact of environmental protection tax on enterprise digital transformation: Evidence from Chinese listed firms," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    13. Wei, Feiqiong & Xie, Baiwei & Chen, Mingyan, 2025. "Digital financial inclusion, e-commerce development and entrepreneurial activity," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    14. Han, Zhihui & Wang, Zhitao, 2025. "Digitalization and supply chain finance risk: Evidence from listed firms in the construction industry," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    15. Zhang, Dongyang, 2024. "The pathway to curb greenwashing in sustainable growth: The role of artificial intelligence," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    16. Li, Pengcheng & Guo, Xiaochuan & Wang, Fengzheng & Zhang, Qifeng, 2025. "Digital transformation and corporate innovation boundaries: Role of supply chain concentration and transparency," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    17. Xia, Weifeng & Ruan, Zhiyu & Ma, Shenglin & Zhao, Jin & Yan, Jiale, 2025. "Can the digital economy enhance carbon emission efficiency? Evidence from 269 cities in China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    18. Cui, Kai & Yang, Wen, 2025. "The digital economy and the resilience of enterprise exports: Supply chain stability as a mediator," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    19. Li, Xiaoqi & Zhu, Siyi, 2025. "How digital transformation can affect corporate technology innovation: The role of income gap," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    20. Lawrence Edwards & Marco Sanfilippo & Asha Sundaram, 2016. "Importing and firm performance: New evidence from South Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series 039, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).

    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:finlet:v:73:y:2025:i:c:s1544612324016581. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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.elsevier.com/locate/frl .

    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.