FROM CONNECTIVITY TO CORPORATE VALUE: DIGITAL DEVELOPMENT, COMPLEMENTARY CONDITIONS, AND FIRM OUTCOMES IN CHINA

บทคัดย่อ

This study aimed to: (1) examine whether city-level digital development is associated with corporate profitability and market valuation in the Chinese A-share market; (2) investigate whether infrastructure, human capital, and firm R&D intensity strengthen the effect of regional digital development on firm outcomes; and (3) analyze whether the digital-development effect is stronger for high-tech firms, increases over time, and is reflected in the Broadband China policy pilot. This study employed a quantitative archival research design using panel data. The sample consisted of Chinese A-share listed nonfinancial firms during 2008–2024. After excluding financial firms, ST and *ST firms, and observations with missing values, and after winsorizing continuous variables at the 1st and 99th percentiles, the final sample comprised 41,600 firm-year observations. Data were analyzed using fixed-effects panel regression models and a difference-in-differences (DID) approach.

The findings revealed that: (1) regional digital development was positively and significantly associated with both return on assets (ROA) and Tobin’s Q; (2) infrastructure, human capital, and R&D intensity significantly strengthened the effect of digital development on firm outcomes; and (3) the digital-development effect was stronger for high-tech firms, increased over time, and was consistent with positive post-policy effects under the Broadband China pilot. The results suggest that the value of digital development depends not only on digital connectivity but also on complementary conditions that enable firms to transform digital resources into corporate value.