数字化转型促进了中国专精特新企业国际化吗?

Does Digital Transformation Promote the Internationalization of Specialized and Sophisticated SMEs?

摘要:

党的二十届四中全会提出，拓展国际循环，以开放促改革促发展。在数字经济背景下，推动数字化赋能中小企业国际化发展势在必行。专精特新企业作为中小企业的“领头羊”，是中国企业参与国际竞争的中坚力量。然而数字化转型对专精特新企业国际化的影响成效如何？其内在的作用机制是什么？现有研究未有充分回应。本文利用2011—2023年1315家中国专精特新上市企业数据，对上述问题进行实证分析检验。研究发现：①数字化转型对专精特新企业国际化程度的促进作用具有明显的时滞性，即短期内表现为负向显著影响，但随着数字化转型的持续推进，会逐渐转变为积极影响；②该时滞性特征背后的重要作用机制在于企业债务压力的变化，即短期内企业数字化转型导致其资金投入增加与债务压力的提升，对国际化战略投资造成挤出。但长期来看，数字化转型边际投入递减的同时提升了短期债务的融资可及性，有助于帮助企业盘活现金流，为国际化发展提供有效助力。此外，企业高管的海外背景对数字化转型推动企业国际化起到显著的正向调节作用。③进一步分析发现，不同属性的专精特新企业呈现出明显差异性，其中国有属性、东部地区的专精特新企业，其数字化转型对国际化程度产生积极影响的时滞性更显著。

Abstract:

The Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China proposed to expand the international economic cycle and advance reform and development through opening up. Against the backdrop of the digital economy, it is imperative to empower the internationalization development of small and medium-sized enterprises via digitalization. As the “pace-setters” among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), specialized and sophisticated SMEs are regarded as the backbone of Chinese enterprises’ participation in international competition. Nevertheless, existing studies have not fully answered how digital transformation affects the internationalization of specialized and sophisticated SMEs and what lies behind its internal influencing mechanism. Using data from 1315 listed Chinese specialized and sophisticated SMEs spanning 2011 to 2023, this thesis conducts empirical analysis and verification on the above issues The research findings are as follows: ① The impact of digital transformation on the internationalization degree of specialized and sophisticated SMEs presents obvious phased characteristics. In the short term, it shows a negative impact; however, with the continuous advancement of digital transformation, this impact gradually turns positive. ② The root cause of this phased characteristic lies in changes in the enterprises’ debt structure. Specifically, in the short term, the increased capital investment in digital transformation leads to higher debt pressure, which crowds out investment in internationalization. In the long run, however, the marginal input of digital transformation decreases, and it improves access to financing. This helps enterprises activate cash flow and provides effective support for their international development. Additionally, the overseas background of enterprise executives plays an effective positive moderating role in this mechanism. ③ Specialized and sophisticated SMEs with different attributes show significant differences. Among them, state-owned enterprises and those located in eastern China see a more prominent long-term driving effect of digital transformation on their internationalization degree.