Does the Opening of High-Speed Railway Promote Corporate Digital Transformation?

Abstract

As China’s economy enters the digital era, guiding enterprises to conduct better digital transformations has become an urgent problem to be solved. In this regard, this paper builds a multiperiod DID model to empirically examine the impact of opening a high-speed railway (HSR) on corporate digital transformation by matching the data of HSR with the data of Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listed companies from 2008 to 2019. It was found that (1) the opening of an HSR can significantly improve corporate digital transformation, and this finding still held after considering endogeneity issues and various robustness tests. (2) A heterogeneity analysis showed that the promoting effect of opening an HSR on corporate digital transformation was mainly found in nonstate enterprises, high-tech enterprises, and enterprises located in cities with low initial transportation endowment. (3) A mechanistic analysis found that opening an HSR can promote corporate digital transformation by promoting senior staff mobility, increasing industry competition, and enhancing financial agglomeration. This paper not only enriches the research related to the economic consequences of opening an HSR, but it also has important implications for guiding enterprises to successfully conduct corporate digital transformations.