Research On The Impact Of CEO Information Technology Background On Corporate Digital Technology Investment

The Internet has had a big impact on all areas of life,with new technologies like Artificial Intelligence,Big Data,and the Internet of Things.In China,digital technology has received strong support and advocacy from the government,and companies have responded to the call to join the marathon of developing digital technology.However,companies engaged in digital reform need to take greater risks.the CEO,as the main decision maker and manager of the company,and their decisions can have a big impact on how the company develops and uses digital technology.This paper mainly integrates higher order theory,branding theory and resource base theory to explore the implications of CEO information technology background on corporate digital technology investment as well as the nature of property rights,firm size,CEO age,CEO gender,CEO power and external information technology environment as moderating variables,respectively,using A-share listed companies from 2011-2021 as the research sample.Because of the differences between high-tech and non-high-tech firms in making digital technology investments,this paper investigates them separately empirically.Finally,this paper uses PSM to address the endogeneity problem due to the existence of selection bias to some extent.The empirical results show that a CEO with an information technology background can increase the importance of digital technology in a firm.State-owned ownership,a larger firm size,and an older CEO inhibit the level of digital technology investment,while a female CEO,a more powerful CEO,and a better external IT environment promote digital technology investment.The difference in digital technology between non-high-tech and high-tech companies is not significant.This paper highlights the role of non-financial information.The findings of this paper enrich the evidence of antecedent motivations of enterprise digital technology development,provide case studies for businesses to better their own level of digital technology development,and have certain reference and guidance significance for Chinese enterprises to respond to the national call for digital transformation.