Purpose. The purpose of this study is to empirically assess the impact of digital transformation (DT) on corporate efficiency in China’s agricultural processing industry; to identify the masking effect of technological upgrading (TeUp) in the DT-performance nexus; and to clarify the moderating role of ownership structure (state, private, foreign) in the these relationships. Methodology. This study adopts a fixed-effects model to conduct an empirical analysis using a balanced panel dataset of 1376 Chinese agricultural processing firms spanning the period from 2019 to 2024. Stepwise regression combined with the Sobel test is used to verify the masking effect of TeUp. Grouped regression and the Chow test are applied to analyse ownership heterogeneity. Endogeneity and robustness are tested via lagged regression and variable substitution. Results. DT exerts a significant positive impact on the performance of agricultural processing enterprises, with a 1-unit increase in DT index raising Tobin’s Q by 1.6%. TeUp presents a significant masking effect: DT suppresses R offers empirical evidence for the precise formulation of agricultural industrial digitalisation policies under China’s Rural Revitalisation Strategy; provides guidance for these firms to balance resource allocation between digital transformation and R and serves as a reference for improving the digital infrastructure and digital supervision system within the agricultural processing industry.
Stoyanets et al. (Tue,) studied this question.