Research On The Impact Of Import Tariffs On The Digital Transformation Of Manufacturing Enterprises In China

In recent years,the trend of anti-globalization has become more prominent,the global supply chain has been greatly impacted,and the risks faced by the manufacturing industry have risen sharply.At the same time,the development of a new generation of information technology has led to the continuous penetration of digitalization into traditional industries.As the main body of economic development,manufacturing enterprises have drawn strong transformation power from the development of the digital economy and strengthened their resilience to cope with the complex international environment.The intensity of digital resource introduction and transformation capabilities of Chinese manufacturing enterprises have been continuously improved,but compared with innovative countries,the digital transformation of most manufacturing enterprises in China is not ideal.Therefore,starting from the background of the complex trade environment and the booming digital economy,this article attempts to explore whether changes in import tariffs will affect the digital transformation of enterprises.Research on the relationship between trade policy and enterprise digital transformation is an urgent need for China to cope with external shocks,promote industrial structure upgrading and formulate corresponding policies.Therefore,studying the impact of import tariff adjustment on the digitalization of China’s manufacturing enterprises has certain practical value.Based on the product tariffs and data of listed manufacturing companies from 2010 to 2018,this thesis analyzes the impact of import tariff changes on the digital transformation of manufacturing enterprises in China,analyzes and verifies its impact mechanism,and strives to provide corresponding suggestions for the development of China’s digital economy and the transformation and upgrading of manufacturing enterprises.After combing the existing research results,this thesis follows the research design of first theoretical analysis and then empirical test.In the theoretical and mechanism analysis part,starting from the fact that China’s digital products rely on imports after the reduction of import tariffs,it is concluded that the positive change of import tariffs may force enterprises to carry out independent digital transformation to reduce trade risks,and puts forward the research hypothesis that the rise of import tariffs will promote the digital transformation of manufacturing enterprises.At the same time,it is expounded that the increase of import tariffs will promote the improvement of enterprises’ technological innovation capabilities,which in turn affects the digital transformation of enterprises,and the hypothesis that technological innovation has a significant intermediary effect is proposed.Then,the mediating role of market competition in the influence of import tariffs and the intermediary effect of enterprise technological innovation is analyzed,and the research hypothesis that market competition can positively regulate the mediating effect of enterprise technological innovation is put forward.In the variable selection,the fields related to the digital transformation of enterprises that appear in the annual reports of listed companies are summarized to measure the degree of digital transformation of listed companies.And match the import duties of products to the industry level to calculate the import tariff level of each industry in the manufacturing industry.In model construction and parameter estimation,the impact of import tariff adjustment on the digital transformation of Chinese manufacturing enterprises is estimated through the two-way fixed-effect model,and the robustness test is carried out.In order to analyze and test the intermediary effect of enterprise technological innovation and the regulating effect of market competition,the intermediary effect model and the regulated intermediary effect model are established.In the heterogeneity analysis,enterprises are distinguished according to their ownership attributes and whether they are high-tech enterprises,and the impact of rising import tariffs on different types of enterprises is analyzed.The innovation of this thesis lies in the viewpoint and research method,after combing through the previous research,the factors affecting the digital transformation of manufacturing enterprises are empirically analyzed,while the existing literature has not linked import tariffs with the digital transformation of manufacturing enterprises.In addition,this thesis uses the structural equation estimation method to analyze the mediating effect of technological innovation and the regulatory effect of market competition.The following five conclusions are drawn through theoretical and empirical analysis.First,there are great differences in tariff levels between different industries in China’s manufacturing industry.Second,there is an imbalance in the digital development of China’s manufacturing enterprises.Third,from the total sample,the increase of import tariffs has a significant role in promoting the digital transformation of China’s manufacturing enterprises,but the increase of import tariffs can promote the digital transformation of private enterprises and high-tech enterprises.Fourth,the increase of China’s import tariffs will promote the digital transformation of manufacturing enterprises by promoting enterprise technological innovation,and technological innovation has played a role as part of the intermediary.Fifth,the improvement of market competition will significantly strengthen the intermediary effect of technological innovation,and will also positively adjust the impact of import tariffs on the digital transformation of enterprises.Finally,this thesis combines the conclusions reached by the research with the reality and puts forward reasonable countermeasures and suggestions.