Enterprise digital transformation and bank credit loans-Empirical evidence from listed companies in China

With the rapid development of the digital economy, digital transformation has become a strategic choice for enterprises across various industries. This study selects a sample of A-share listed companies in China from 2007 to 2021 to investigate how enterprise digital transformation impacts bank credit loans. The findings suggest that enterprise digital transformation is conducive to obtaining more such loans. The effect remains significant after mitigating potential endogeneity problems through instrumental variable and difference-in-difference methods. Mechanism tests show that enterprise digital transformation affects the amount of bank credit loans by improving enterprises' operating efficiency, enhancing external supervision, and mitigating default risk. Heterogeneity tests reveal that the promotion effect is more pronounced among companies with weak competitiveness, a low proportion of institutional investors, and low solvency. Overall, these findings provide theoretical and practical insights into how enterprises can use digital transformation to increase bank credit loans, as well as providing a reference for how enterprises can capitalize on the facilitative role of digital technology, which in turn promotes their development.