How Digitalization Shapes Export Product Quality: Evidence from China

Digitalization has imposed new production and trade requirements on enterprises. Quality upgrading of export products, a requirement of international consumption upgrading, is also a product of enterprise industrial upgrading. We examine the impact of the digitalization of Chinese listed firms on the quality of their export products from 2011 to 2015 using the panel fixed effects model and chain mediating effects model. The results demonstrate that digitalization has an inverted U-shaped effect on the quality of export products. Further, digitalization can promote the quality upgrading of enterprises’ export products. However, the supporting capacity of digital infrastructure and the decreasing consumption upgrading of foreign customers limit this process. Empirical results show that digitalization can alleviate the financing constraints to improve the quality of export products. Because digitalization can improve human capital quality, this effect can improve the export product quality. A chain mediation effect also occurs. Digitalization alleviates financing constraints to improve human capital and enterprises’ export product quality. By clarifying digitalization⇒, alleviating financing constraints⇒, improving human capital quality⇒ improve export product quality relationships, executives can improve the competitiveness of enterprises in the international market.