| 姚雨秀,巫强,蒋真儿.企业数字化转型与纵向分离——来自供应商和客户的证据[J].数量经济技术经济研究,2025,(11):156-177 | | 企业数字化转型与纵向分离——来自供应商和客户的证据 | | Firm Digital Transformation and Corporate Vertical Disintegration: Evidence from Customers and Suppliers | | | | DOI： | | 中文关键词: 企业数字化转型 企业纵向分离 外部交易成本 企业核心能力 | | 英文关键词: Firm Digital Transformation Corporate Vertical Disintegration External Transaction Costs Firm’s Core Capabilities | | 基金项目: | | | 中文摘要: | | 在供应链上，企业可通过纵向分离来专注于自身具有比较优势的业务环节，从而实现上下游之间的优势互补，这不仅有利于供应链整体竞争力的提升，而且有助于塑造经济高质量发展的微观基础。本文利用2010~2023年A股上市公司数据，从数字化赋能的角度探讨企业数字化转型对纵向分离的影响，并从交易成本理论和企业能力理论的融合视角解析了其中的作用机制。研究发现，企业数字化转型导致供应商上游度降低而客户上游度则保持稳定，这说明企业数字化转型对纵向分离具有推动作用，且主要是推动后向分离。机制研究发现，企业数字化转型通过增强企业核心能力和降低外部交易成本的双重效应来推动其纵向分离。进一步研究发现，企业数字化转型对更靠近最终市场企业的核心能力提升作用更大；企业数字化转型对纵向分离的推动作用具有明显的异质性，在横向竞争更加激烈的企业、市场分割程度更低的地区以及非重工业行业中推动作用更强。本研究为加快企业数字化转型，提升国内供应链整体竞争力和加快经济高质量发展提供了重要的政策启示。 | | 英文摘要: | | The construction of a new development paradigm is part of China’s cornerstone strategy to address the evolving global economic landscape and promote high-quality domestic economic development. The establishment of the new development paradigm prioritizes domestic economic circulation as its principal component, with supply chains serving as the critical infrastructure for maintaining unimpeded circulation in major countries’ economic systems. Moreover, the new generation of digital technologies is developing rapidly. Digital transformation has become a key strategic choice for micro-enterprises to promote business innovation, improve operational efficiency, and enhance market competitiveness. In supply chains, firm digital transformation may also lead to vertical separation, enabling firms to focus on business segments in which they have comparative advantages, thereby optimizing their vertical business configuration in supply chains. This not only concerns the high-quality development of firms themselves but also constitutes the micro-foundation for the optimization and upgrading of industries and supply chains. This not only contributes to the enhancement of the overall competitiveness of the supply chain but also serves as the micro foundation for high-quality economic development.Within a comprehensive theoretical framework of vertical separation, this study investigates how firm digital transformation affects the vertical separation of supply chains from a micro-perspective and empirically tests the corresponding impact and mechanism using data on listed companies. In terms of theory, based on the integration of the transaction cost theory and firm capability theory, this study proposes a comprehensive theoretical framework for firm vertical separation and proposes a theoretical proposition about how firm digital transformation affects vertical separation. Taking firm profit maximization as the decision-making goal, this study analyzes how firms decide whether to separate vertical business segments based on external transaction costs and firms’ core capabilities from the aspects of cost and benefit, emphasizing that the decision-making of vertical separation requires firms to make optimal trade-offs under varying internal and market conditions. Furthermore, under the comprehensive transaction cost theory and firm capability theory, this study analyzes the impact of firm digital transformation on vertical separation decisions. Firm digital transformation can significantly enhance their core capabilities and reduce external transaction costs, which increases the motivation of firms to focus on vertical business segments in which they have comparative advantages and separate other business segments, thereby promoting corporate vertical separation driven by profit maximization.Regarding empirical research, using the data of A-share listed companies from 2010 to 2023, this study verifies the impact of firm digital transformation on corporate vertical separation. It also systematically verifies the underlying mechanism by integrating the transaction cost theory and firm capability theory. The benchmark estimation results indicate that firm digital transformation leads to a decrease in the upstreamness of suppliers, while the upstreamness of customers remains stable, indicating that firm digital transformation has a promoting effect on vertical separation. Regarding the direction of vertical separation, it is mainly manifested by firms outsourcing their backward business segments to upstream enterprises with comparative advantages. The endogeneity and robustness tests confirm that the aforementioned promoting effect consistently holds after excluding endogeneity problems, substituting core variable measures, controlling for omitted variables, excluding the interference of supply chain policies, and adjusting the sample. The mechanism test reveals that firm digital transformation mainly promotes corporate vertical separation by enhancing a firm’s core capabilities and reducing external transaction costs. Further research finds that firm digital transformation has a greater enhancing effect on the core capabilities of enterprises that are closer to the final market. Moreover, the promoting effect of firm digital transformation on the vertical separation of industries and supply chains exhibits significant heterogeneity. This effect is particularly stronger in firms facing more intense horizontal competition, regions with lower market segmentation, and nonheavy industries.This study reveals the patterns through which firm digital transformation promotes the vertical separation of industries and supply chains. It also provides five policy recommendations to accelerate firm digital transformation and promote the optimization and upgrading of industries and supply chains as follows. First, it is essential to expedite firm digital transformation. Second, firms should be guided to enhance their core capabilities. Third, vertical data channels should be unimpeded. Fourth, it is important to promote fair competition and market-oriented reforms. Fifth, regional market segmentation should be eliminated. | | 查看全文 相关附件： 下载数据代码附录 |
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