With the deepening implementation of the Digital China strategy, the construction of digital government—an essential pillar—is accelerating, increasingly demonstrating its empowering effects on the real economy, particularly within the industrial sector. This study focuses on the mechanism linking digital government development to the total factor productivity (TFP) of industrial enterprises, aiming to uncover how digital government fosters the cultivation of new productive forces in industry.
Grounded in theoretical analysis, based on transaction cost theory, resource-based theory, institutional change theory, and technology diffusion theory, this study employs the difference-in-differences (DID) model and mediation effect analysis. Using an empirical dataset comprising 25,480 observations from 3,550 A-share listed industrial firms over the period 2010–2022, the study employs a difference-in-differences (DID) model and mediation analysis to systematically examine the temporal characteristics, causal pathways, and synergistic effects of digital government on industrial enterprises. The findings indicate that digital government construction improves the total factor productivity of industrial enterprises by an average of approximately 12.7%, with the effect peaking in the second year and stabilizing thereafter. In terms of mechanisms, three primary pathways—optimization of the business environment, facilitation of data factor circulation, and promotion of industrial digital transformation—contribute to TFP improvement by approximately 23.34%, 19.56%, and 13.25%, respectively, highlighting significant differences in their impact. Moreover, the effects of digital government display marked heterogeneity across firm types, with private enterprises, firms in competitive industries, those located in eastern regions, and high-tech industries benefiting more prominently. It is especially worth noting that the effects vary significantly across regions, with the boost in the eastern areas being about 2.5 times greater
than in the western areas.
Based on these findings, this study proposes targeted strategies including optimizing the pathways of digital government development, implementing differentiated policy approaches, facilitating the circulation of industrial data factors, and strengthening digital collaboration between government and enterprises, with the aim of providing valuable insights into fostering new productive forces in the industrial sector in the digital era.
谷歌
火狐
