The impact of digital finance on export competitiveness: Evidence from Chinese manufacturing enterprises

This paper utilizes unbalanced panel data from the Chinese Customs Database and A-share listed companies from 2012 to 2015 to investigate the relationship and mechanisms between digital finance and the export competitiveness. The study finds that digital finance significantly enhances the export competitiveness, particularly through the increased breadth of coverage and depth of use of digital finance. Regarding the transmission mechanism, digital finance promotes firms' innovation development, thereby improving the quality and competitiveness of their export products. From the heterogeneity analysis, digital finance has a more pronounced positive impact on the export competitiveness of non-state-owned enterprises compared to state-owned enterprises.