The digitalization of tax administration (DTA) represents a transformative institutional reform; however, its influence on regional entrepreneurship remains both theoretically ambiguous and empirically understudied. Drawing on institutional theory, we examine whether and how DTA is associated with regional entrepreneurial entry by reshaping entrepreneurial resource allocation. Using China’s “Golden Tax Project III” reform as a quasi-natural experiment, we apply a staggered difference-in-differences approach to a panel of 282 cities from 2009 to 2022. The results show that the implementation of GTP III is associated with higher levels of entrepreneurial entry. Mechanism analyses provide evidence consistent with two primary channels: the agglomeration of technological talent and improved access to financial resources. Furthermore, the enabling effects of DTA are more pronounced in regions with more developed digital infrastructure, stronger administrative capacity, and higher institutional quality. These findings extend the literature by linking tax digitalization to regional entrepreneurial entry and by clarifying the mechanisms and boundary conditions under which its effects vary.
Zhang et al. (Mon,) studied this question.