Research On The Impact Of The Digitization Of Listed Companies On Employee Stock Ownership Plan

The new round of technologies represented by blockchain,artificial intelligence,etc.,has penetrated into various fields of economy,driving the rapid development of digital economy.In this context,technology-intensive talents have become the core to support the digitalization of enterprises,due to the existence of the principal-agent problem,it is crucial to motivate those high-end talents.The policy of the Securities and Futures Commission allowed companies to implement employee stock ownership plans(ESOP)from 2014,which provides an excellent opportunity to examine the impact of digitalization on ESOP implementation and its influence mechanism.On the basis of elaborating the research background and reviewing related studies,this paper firstly comprehensively compares the development history and implementation of ESOP in China;secondly,uses panel data of 3,569 listed companies from 2013 to 2020 to examine the impact of digitalization level of listed companies on whether they implement ESOP and test the mechanism from the perspective of digitalization affecting corporate workforce structure;finally,conducts heterogeneity analysis and robustness test.The results of the study show that,the higher the level of digitization of listed companies,the more likely they are to implement ESOP;furthermore,the role of digitization in promoting the implementation of ESOP is more obvious in companies with highly educated employees,high innovation ability and large pay gaps,i.e.,digitization influences the implementation of ESOP by affecting the workforce structure.The results of the heterogeneity analysis show that the impact of digitalization in promoting the implementation of ESOP is stronger for non-state enterprises,enterprises with good growth,enterprises from high-tech industries,and regions with good digital economy development.The findings not only establish a theoretical link between digitalization and ESOP based on the background of digital economy,but also provide a reference basis for the decision-making practice of digital transformation of enterprises.