IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/reveco/v99y2025ics1059056025001960.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Digital transformation and supply chain resilience

Author

Listed:
  • Li, Pengcheng
  • Chen, Yanbing
  • Guo, Xiaochuan

Abstract

This study investigates how digital transformation affects supply chain resilience. Drawing on a panel dataset of Chinese listed firms from 2012 to 2022, we employ econometric techniques including mediation analysis and perform extensive robustness checks. The results indicate that digital transformation has a significant positive effect on supply chain resilience. This effect materializes both directly and indirectly: digital initiatives strengthen supply chain power and transparency, which in turn improve resilience. Heterogeneity analysis suggests that these resilience benefits are stronger in digitally intensive industries, under stricter environmental regulations, and differ between state-owned and private firms. These findings underscore the strategic value of digital transformation in building more resilient supply chains. Managers are advised to implement industry-specific digital strategies, and policymakers should consider regulatory environments and ownership structures when promoting digital adoption to strengthen resilience. By integrating insights from multiple theoretical perspectives, this study contributes to the literature with robust empirical evidence that digital transformation is a key driver of supply chain resilience.

Suggested Citation

  • Li, Pengcheng & Chen, Yanbing & Guo, Xiaochuan, 2025. "Digital transformation and supply chain resilience," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:reveco:v:99:y:2025:i:c:s1059056025001960
    DOI: 10.1016/j.iref.2025.104033
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1059056025001960
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.iref.2025.104033?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. Zhang, Hao & Shi, Yuxin & Yang, Xueran & Zhou, Ruiling, 2021. "A firefly algorithm modified support vector machine for the credit risk assessment of supply chain finance," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    2. Kirti Nayal & Rakesh D. Raut & Vinay Surendra Yadav & Pragati Priyadarshinee & Balkrishna E. Narkhede, 2022. "RETRACTED: The impact of sustainable development strategy on sustainable supply chain firm performance in the digital transformation era," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(3), pages 845-859, March.
    3. Santosh B. Rane & Yahya Abdul Majid Narvel, 2022. "Data-driven decision making with Blockchain-IoT integrated architecture: a project resource management agility perspective of industry 4.0," International Journal of System Assurance Engineering and Management, Springer;The Society for Reliability, Engineering Quality and Operations Management (SREQOM),India, and Division of Operation and Maintenance, Lulea University of Technology, Sweden, vol. 13(2), pages 1005-1023, April.
    4. Wu, Jianan & Guo, Cheng & Liu, Xiaojing & Dai, Jiapeng, 2025. "Policy-driven employment structure transformation: The role of innovation and education investment," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    5. Robert Gibbons, 2010. "Transaction‐Cost Economics: Past, Present, and Future?," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 112(2), pages 263-288, June.
    6. Mihalis Giannakis & Michalis Louis, 2016. "A Multi-Agent Based System with Big Data Processing for Enhanced Supply Chain Agility," Post-Print hal-01353916, HAL.
    7. Benjamin R. Tukamuhabwa & Mark Stevenson & Jerry Busby & Marta Zorzini, 2015. "Supply chain resilience: definition, review and theoretical foundations for further study," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(18), pages 5592-5623, September.
    8. Khurana, Indu & Dutta, Dev K. & Singh Ghura, Amarpreet, 2022. "SMEs and digital transformation during a crisis: The emergence of resilience as a second-order dynamic capability in an entrepreneurial ecosystem," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 623-641.
    9. Ghafoori, Arman & Gupta, Manjul & Merhi, Mohammad I. & Gupta, Samrat & Shore, Adam P., 2024. "Toward the role of organizational culture in data-driven digital transformation," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 271(C).
    10. Dai, Jiapeng & Mehmood, Usman & Nassani, Abdelmohsen A., 2025. "Empowering sustainability through energy efficiency, green innovations, and the sharing economy: Insights from G7 economies," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 318(C).
    11. ManMohan S. Sodhi & Christopher S. Tang, 2019. "Research Opportunities in Supply Chain Transparency," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 28(12), pages 2946-2959, December.
    12. Dai, Jiapeng, 2025. "Is policy pilot a viable path to sustainable development? Attention allocation perspective," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    13. Asha Thomas, 2024. "Digitally transforming the organization through knowledge management: a socio-technical system (STS) perspective," European Journal of Innovation Management, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 27(9), pages 437-460, July.
    14. Gong, Qinyi & Ying, Limeng & Dai, Jiapeng, 2023. "Green finance and energy natural resources nexus with economic performance: A novel evidence from China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    15. Ghosh, Swapan & Hughes, Mat & Hodgkinson, Ian & Hughes, Paul, 2022. "Digital transformation of industrial businesses: A dynamic capability approach," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    16. Montecchi, Matteo & Plangger, Kirk & West, Douglas C., 2021. "Supply chain transparency: A bibliometric review and research agenda," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 238(C).
    17. Macher Jeffrey T & Richman Barak D, 2008. "Transaction Cost Economics: An Assessment of Empirical Research in the Social Sciences," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 10(1), pages 1-65, May.
    18. Gebhardt, Maximilian & Spieske, Alexander & Kopyto, Matthias & Birkel, Hendrik, 2022. "Increasing global supply chains’ resilience after the COVID-19 pandemic: Empirical results from a Delphi study," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 59-72.
    19. Ioanna Kastelli & Petros Dimas & Dimitrios Stamopoulos & Aggelos Tsakanikas, 2024. "Linking Digital Capacity to Innovation Performance: the Mediating Role of Absorptive Capacity," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(1), pages 238-272, March.
    20. Sascha Kraus & Paul Jones & Norbert Kailer & Alexandra Weinmann & Nuria Chaparro-Banegas & Norat Roig-Tierno, 2021. "Digital Transformation: An Overview of the Current State of the Art of Research," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(3), pages 21582440211, September.
    21. Aiping Wang & Rui Han, 2024. "Can digital transformation prohibit corporate fraud? Empirical evidence from China," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(16), pages 1505-1512, September.
    22. Macher, Jeffrey T. & Richman, Barak D., 2008. "Transaction Cost Economics: An Assessment of Empirical Research in the Social Sciences," Business and Politics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 10(1), pages 1-63, April.
    23. ManMohan S. Sodhi & Christopher S. Tang, 2021. "Supply Chain Management for Extreme Conditions: Research Opportunities," Journal of Supply Chain Management, Institute for Supply Management, vol. 57(1), pages 7-16, January.
    24. Huang, Kerry & Wang, Kedi & Lee, Peter K.C. & Yeung, Andy C.L., 2023. "The impact of industry 4.0 on supply chain capability and supply chain resilience: A dynamic resource-based view," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 262(C).
    25. Tian, Guangning & Li, Bo & Cheng, Yue, 2022. "Does digital transformation matter for corporate risk-taking?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    26. Abayomi Baiyere & Hannu Salmela & Tommi Tapanainen, 2020. "Digital transformation and the new logics of business process management," European Journal of Information Systems, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(3), pages 238-259, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Chen, Shi & Liu, Zhongyi & Cai, Wanlin, 2025. "Digital transformation and tax compliance in Chinese industrial sector," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    2. 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).
    3. Bu, Wei & Yan, Zhongyi & Yang, Shuning, 2025. "Digital economy and corporate sustainability: Mediating roles of green innovation and risk-taking," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    4. 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).
    5. Emilia Obiñska-Wajda, 2016. "The new institutional economics - main theories," "e-Finanse", University of Information Technology and Management, Institute of Financial Research and Analysis, vol. 12(1), pages 78-85, June.
    6. Liu, Yuanyang & Tian, Xuemei & Long, Yang, 2025. "Digital economy and corporate ESG performance: Cost reduction or efficiency improvement?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    7. Meiwen, Su & Ming, Ji & Mengyu, Li, 2025. "Education, technology and high-quality economic development," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    8. Wang, Zhenzhen & Jia, Junting, 2025. "Digital transformation and organizational resilience," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    9. Liu, Qiong & Wang, Hairong, 2025. "Digital transformation, innovation capability, and ESG performance," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    10. Obińska-Wajda Emilia, 2016. "The New Institutional Economics-Main Theories," Financial Internet Quarterly (formerly e-Finanse), Sciendo, vol. 12(1), pages 78-85.
    11. Wang, Linjing & Zhao, Chunyan & Gan, Yufei & Ni, Xiaoxiao, 2025. "Financial flexibility, organizational resilience and corporate green innovation," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    12. Chen, Keren & Zhao, Shenghan & Jiang, Gaozhe & He, Yafeng & Li, Hui, 2025. "The green innovation effect of the digital economy," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    13. Ye, Lin, 2025. "Digital economy and high-quality agricultural development," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    14. Koliousis, Ioannis & Al-Surmi, Abdulrahman & Bashiri, Mahdi, 2024. "Artificial intelligence and policy making; can small municipalities enable digital transformation?," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 274(C).
    15. Tang, Meihuan, 2025. "Data element utilization and firm value," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    16. Shang, Zhaoyan & Chen, Hanwen, 2025. "Supply chain transparency and corporate financial fraud," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    17. Kang, Shuhao & Geng, Wei, 2025. "Green finance innovation and high-quality economic development: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    18. Yan, Nan & Xue, Yuhang & Xu, Menghan & Sun, Yige & Yang, Yun, 2025. "Sentiment tendency of ESG coverage, public concern, and corporate environmental performance," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    19. Chen, Zhiang & Xing, Ruikun, 2025. "Digital economy, green innovation and high-quality economic development," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    20. Sharon Novak & Scott Stern, 2009. "Complementarity Among Vertical Integration Decisions: Evidence from Automobile Product Development," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 55(2), pages 311-332, February.

    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:reveco:v:99:y:2025:i:c:s1059056025001960. 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/inca/620165 .

    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.