This study examines the relationship between digital trade and economic growth using panel data from 60 economies spanning from 2007 to 2021. Employing a fixed-effects model for empirical analysis, the research establishes a significant positive effect of digital trade on economic growth. This effect is further amplified by manufacturing servitization. Key findings include: (1) Digital trade exerts a substantial positive impact on economic growth, which is significantly enhanced when interacting with manufacturing servitization. (2) Heterogeneity analysis reveals that digital trade positively influences economic growth in both developed and developing economies, as well as in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) participating countries. This effect is more pronounced in developed economies and BRI participants. Notably, digital innovation demonstrates a stronger positive influence on growth, whereas digital scale appears to constrain economic development. (3) Robustness tests employing two distinct measurement approaches for manufacturing servitization consistently confirm the positive impact of digital trade on economic growth. These findings suggest that digital trade holds potential as a driver of economic growth in China and could enhance its international competitiveness in the digital trade sector.
Chen et al. (Thu,) studied this question.