Abstract With the continuous rise of China’s labor costs and the integration of other developing countries into the lower tiers of the global production network, China’s traditional comparative advantages in international trade are gradually diminishing. The rapid development of emerging technologies, represented by information technology and artificial intelligence, has deeply integrated with domestic economic and social development. Digital empowerment has ignited a new wave of industrial transformation, accelerating the pace of digitalization across various sectors and providing an opportunity to cultivate competitive advantages in foreign trade. Given the prevalence of multi-product export enterprises in China and the significant proportion of core product trade volume, an important issue to consider is how the digital transformation will affect the quality of export products of Chinese multi-product exporters.The existing research on the impact of digital transformation on the quality of export products has certain limitations. Specifically, the literature focuses on the aggregate enterprise level, but does not involve the research at the product level. However, research based on the assumption of single-product enterprises cannot accurately describe the multi-product export phenomenon common in Chinese export enterprises, nor can it deeply reveal the resource allocation and performance adjustment behavior within multi-product exporters. In this context, from the perspective of export product quality of multi-product enterprises, this paper explores the reliable pathways for the enterprise digital transformation to enhance the export competitive advantage of Chinese multi-product enterprises.This paper conducts an empirical study by using the matched data from China Customs database and CSMAR database for the period 2006 to 2015. The results indicate that digital transformation can significantly facilitate the upgrading of the overall export products quality of multi-product exporters, but the promotion effect varies across products of different rankings. To be specific, the closer a product is to the core competitiveness, the stronger the effect of digital transformation is on the quality improvement. Mechanism test results demonstrate that, on the one hand, the digital transformation can optimize resource allocation within multi-product enterprises, driving the concentration of resources towards relatively core products and promoting the improvement of product quality across different rankings. On the other hand, the digital transformation helps to reduce the marginal cost of products of multi-product enterprises and improve production efficiency, thereby promoting the upgrading of export product quality, and having a particularly positive impact on the quality improvement of core products.The marginal contribution of this paper can be summarized as follows first, this paper is the first to explores the impact of digital transformation on the quality of export products from the perspective of multi-product export enterprises. It captures the uneven impact of digital transformation on the export quality of core and non-core products in the multi-product export enterprises, thereby expanding the research scope of the digital economy and product quality;second, this paper enriches the research on internal resource adjustment of micro-enterprises by detailing internal adjustment between different products, revealing the impact of digital transformation on internal resource allocation of multi-product export enterprises, and adding a new dimension to studies on international trade and industrial organization; third, from the perspective of the marginal cost, this paper analyzes the differentiated impact of digital transformation on the production efficiency of different ranked products within an enterprise. It highlights that the increase in marginal cost is a significant factor limiting the expansion of product lines in multi-product enterprises, providing a new approach to investigate the adjustment of product performance within the enterprise.
Zhang Chunyuan,Gu Guoda,Zhang Hongsheng. Digital Transformation and Export Product Quality of Chinese Multi-product Exporters[J]. JOURNAL OF ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITY, 2025, 55(1): 26-45.
1 杜明威、耿景珠、刘文革：《企业数字化转型与中国出口产品质量升级：来自上市公司的微观证据》，《国际贸易问题》2022年第6期，第55-72页。 2 钱学锋、王胜、陈勇兵：《中国的多产品出口企业及其产品范围：事实与解释》，《管理世界》2013年第1期，第9-27，66页。 3 祝树金、钟腾龙、李仁宇：《中间品贸易自由化与多产品出口企业的产品加成率》，《中国工业经济》2018年第1期，第41-59页。 4 樊海潮、黄文静、吴彩云：《贸易自由化与企业内的产品质量调整》，《中国工业经济》2022年第1期，第93-112页。 5 Eckel C. & Neary J. P.， “Multi-product firms and flexible manufacturing in the global economy，” The Review of Economic Studies， Vol. 77， No. 1 （2010）， pp. 188-217. 6 Amiti M. & Khandelwal A. K.， “Import competition and quality upgrading，” Review of Economics and Statistics， Vol. 95， No. 2 （2013）， pp. 476-490. 7 Khandelwal A. K.， Schott P. K. & Wei S. J.， “Trade liberalization and embedded institutional reform： evidence from Chinese exporters，” American Economic Review， Vol. 103， No. 6 （2013）， pp. 2169-2195. 8 Fan H.， Li Y. A. & Yeaple S. R.， “Trade liberalization， quality， and export prices，” Review of Economics and Statistics， Vol. 97， No. 5 （2015）， pp. 1033-1051. 9 Berman N.， Martin P. & Mayer T.， “How do different exporters react to exchange rate changes？” The Quarterly Journal of Economics， Vol. 127， No. 1 （2012）， pp. 437-492. 10 施炳展、邵文波：《中国企业出口产品质量测算及其决定因素——培育出口竞争新优势的微观视角》，《管理世界》2014年第9期，第90-106页。 11 Manova K. & Zhang Z.， “Export prices across firms and destinations，” The Quarterly Journal of Economics， Vol. 127， No. 1 （2012）， pp. 379-436. 12 王雅琦、张文魁、洪圣杰：《出口产品质量与中间品供给》，《管理世界》2018年第8期，第30-40页。 13 刘啟仁、铁瑛：《企业雇佣结构、中间投入与出口产品质量变动之谜》，《管理世界》2020年第3期，第1-23页。 14 Bukht R. & Heeks R.， “Defining， conceptualising and measuring the digital economy，” International Organisations Research Journal， Vol. 13， No. 2 （2018）， pp. 143-172. 15 赵涛、张智、梁上坤：《数字经济、创业活跃度与高质量发展——来自中国城市的经验证据》，《管理世界》2020年第10期，第65-76页。 16 Chen Y.， Kumara E. K. & Sivakumar V.， “Investigation of finance industry on risk awareness model and digital economic growth，” Annals of Operations Research， Vol. 326 （2023）， https：//doi.org/10.1007/s10479-021-04287-7. 17 Watanabe C.， Naveed K. & Neittaanm?ki P.， “Co-evolution between trust in teachers and higher education toward digitally-rich learning environments，” Technology in Society， Vol. 48 （2017）， pp. 70-96. 18 柏培文、张云：《数字经济、人口红利下降与中低技能劳动者权益》，《经济研究》2021年第5期，第91-108页。 19 柏培文、喻理：《数字经济发展与企业价格加成：理论机制与经验事实》，《中国工业经济》2021年第11期，第59-77页。 20 吴非、胡慧芷、林慧妍等：《企业数字化转型与资本市场表现——来自股票流动性的经验证据》，《管理世界》2021年第7期，第130-144，10页。 21 袁淳、肖土盛、耿春晓等：《数字化转型与企业分工：专业化还是纵向一体化》，《中国工业经济》2021年第9期，第137-155页。 22 肖土盛、孙瑞琦、袁淳等：《企业数字化转型、人力资本结构调整与劳动收入份额》，《管理世界》2022年第12期，第220-237页。 23 洪俊杰、蒋慕超、张宸妍：《数字化转型、创新与企业出口质量提升》，《国际贸易问题》2022年第3期，第1-15页。 24 魏昀妍、龚星宇、柳春：《数字化转型能否提升企业出口韧性》，《国际贸易问题》2022年第10期，第56-72页。 25 Llopis-Albert C.， Rubio F. & Valero F.， “Impact of digital transformation on the automotive industry，” Technological Forecasting and Social Change， Vol. 162 （2021）， https：//doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2020.120343. 26 Soluk J. & Kammerlander N.， “Digital transformation in family-owned Mittelstand firms： a dynamic capabilities perspective，” European Journal of Information Systems， Vol. 30， No. 6 （2021）， pp. 676-711. 27 Bharadwaj A.， El Sawy O. A. & Pavlou P. A. et al.， “Digital business strategy： toward a next generation of insights，” MIS Quarterly， Vol. 37， No. 2 （2013）， pp. 471-482. 28 Yoo Y.， Henfridsson O. & Lyytinen K.， “Research commentary—the new organizing logic of digital innovation： an agenda for information systems research，” Information Systems Research， Vol. 21， No. 4 （2010）， pp. 724-735. 29 赵宸宇、王文春、李雪松：《数字化转型如何影响企业全要素生产率》，《财贸经济》2021年第7期，第114-129页。 30 Li S.， Xu L. D. & Zhao S.， “The internet of things： a survey，” Information Systems Frontiers， Vol. 17 （2015）， pp. 243-259. 31 Bhandari K. R.， Zámborsky P. & Ranta M. et al.， “Digitalization， internationalization， and firm performance： a resource-orchestration perspective on new OLI advantages，” International Business Review， Vol. 32， No. 4 （2023）， https：//doi.org/10.1016/j.ibusrev.2023.102135. 32 Goldfarb A. & Tucker C.， “Digital economics，” Journal of Economic Literature， Vol. 57， No. 1 （2019）， pp. 3-43. 33 Acemoglu D. & Restrepo P.， “Automation and new tasks： how technology displaces and reinstates labor，” Journal of Economic Perspectives， Vol. 33， No. 2 （2019）， pp. 3-30. 34 Acemoglu D. & Restrepo P.， “Tasks， automation， and the rise in US wage inequality，” Econometrica， Vol. 90， No. 5 （2022）， pp. 1973-2016. 35 Melitz M. J. & Ottaviano G. I. P.， “Market size， trade， and productivity，” The Review of Economic Studies， Vol. 75， No. 1 （2008）， pp. 295-316. 36 Verhoogen E. A.， “Trade， quality upgrading， and wage inequality in the Mexican manufacturing sector，” The Quarterly Journal of Economics， Vol. 123， No. 2 （2008）， pp. 489-530. 37 Schott P. K.， “Across-product versus within-product specialization in international trade，” The Quarterly Journal of Economics， Vol. 119， No. 2 （2004）， pp. 647-678. 38 Hallak J. C.， “Product quality and the direction of trade，” Journal of International Economics， Vol. 68， No. 1 （2006）， pp. 238-265. 39 Bastos P. & Silva J.， “The quality of a firm’s exports： where you export to matters，” Journal of International Economics， Vol. 82， No. 2 （2010）， pp. 99-111. 40 Khandelwal A.， “The long and short （of） quality ladders，” The Review of Economic Studies， Vol. 77， No. 4 （2010）， pp. 1450-1476. 41 Feenstra R. C. & Romalis J.， “International prices and endogenous quality，” The Quarterly Journal of Economics， Vol. 129， No. 2 （2014）， pp. 477-527. 42 樊海潮、郭光远：《出口价格、出口质量与生产率间的关系：中国的证据》，《世界经济》2015年第2期，第58-85页。 43 祁怀锦、曹修琴、刘艳霞：《数字经济对公司治理的影响——基于信息不对称和管理者非理性行为视角》，《改革》2020年第4期，第50-64页。 44 Broda C. & Weinstein D. E.， “Globalization and the gains from variety，” The Quarterly Journal of Economics， Vol. 121， No. 2 （2006）， pp. 541-585. 45 Zhu M. & Tomasi C.， “Firms’ imports and quality upgrading： evidence from Chinese firms，” The World Economy， Vol. 43， No. 5 （2020）， pp. 1371-1397. 46 Song Y.， Wu Y. & Deng G. et al.， “Intermediate imports， institutional environment， and export product quality upgrading： evidence from Chinese micro-level enterprises，” Emerging Markets Finance and Trade， Vol. 57， No. 2 （2021）， pp. 400-426. 47 Zhang H.， Liu Q. & Wei Y.， “Digital product imports and export product quality： firm-level evidence from China，” China Economic Review， Vol. 79 （2023）， https：//doi.org/10.1016/j.chieco.2023.101981. 48 De Loecker J.， Goldberg P. K. & Khandelwal A. K. et al.， “Prices， markups， and trade reform，” Econometrica， Vol. 84， No. 2 （2016）， pp. 445-510.
2025, Vol. 55 
