| Since the implementation of the “going global” strategy,China’s outward foreign direct investment(OFDI)has significantly improved.In 2020,under the great impact of the global COVID-19 epidemic,while the global foreign direct investment decreased by nearly 40%,China’s OFDI flow reached to $153.71 billion,increased by 12.3% year on year,the flow ranked first in the world for the first time.At present,China is committed to forming a broader,wider and deeper opening-up pattern,which requires China to accelerate the pace of transformation and upgrading from a big foreign investment country to a strong foreign investment country.Actively promoting China’s OFDI is an important part of building a new development pattern,and an important strategic choice for promoting the high-quality development of China’s economy.At the same time,driven by a new revolution in technology and industry,the innovation and development of new generation digital technologies such as artificial intelligence,big data,cloud computing and blockchain have reconstructed the development pattern of economic society,and the traditional industrial economy and society are entering a digital era with digital as the core feature.China’s “14th Five-Year Plan” proposes to promote the deep integration of digital technology with the real economy and enable the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries.In this context,digital transformation has become the only route for micro enterprises to adapt to the new technology paradigm.In terms of “going global” enterprises,according to the World Investment Report released by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development(UNCTAD)in 2017,the digitization of global production plays a crucial role in promoting and facilitating investments.Strengthening digital development strategies in investment policies is essential,enabling multinational corporations to leverage digital advantages and thereby easing their entry into overseas markets.This implies that in the rapidly evolving landscape of the digital economy,digital transformation is bound to impact the international operations and strategies of businesses,emerging as a novel driving force for OFDI by multinational corporations.Driven by the above strategic planning and practice-oriented changes,this paper is committed to systematically exploring the influence of digital transformation on the behavior of China’s enterprises in each stage of OFDI.It not only enriches the relevant research on the factors influencing digital transformation and OFDI,but also provides empirical evidence at the micro enterprise level for objectively evaluating the important role of digital transformation strategy in China’s OFDI.It is of great significance for China to accelerate the formation of a new pattern of high-level opening up to the outside world.The study unfolds in a sequence of “factual analysis-theoretical analysisempirical analysis-conclusions and policy suggestions”.Firstly,the paper clarifies the structural characteristics of digital transformation,this indicator is calculated to comprehensively describes the development status and characteristics of digital transformation in Chinese enterprises.Then this paper analyzes the current situation of China’s OFDI,and preliminarily judges the possible relationship between digital transformation and the OFDI behavior of China’s enterprises in various stages through rich micro data.Secondly,the paper analyzes in detail the influence of digital transformation on OFDI of China’s enterprises’ decisions,investment mode selection,investment intensity and investment performance from the theoretical level by using the method of combining mathematical economic model and text deduction,and sorts out its mechanism from the dual perspectives of internal factors and external investment environment,and puts forward corresponding research hypotheses.Furthermore,by constructing econometric models and using micro enterprise data to conduct strict empirical tests on relevant research hypotheses in turn,providing empirical evidence for the above theoretical analysis.Finally,this paper summarizes the main conclusions of the full text.Based on this,policy suggestions are proposed from both governmental and corporate perspectives to promote China’s OFDI and digital transformation of enterprises,and prospects for future research directions in this field.The main conclusions of this paper are as follows:First,digital transformation promotes the possibility of China’s enterprises’ OFDI.When the degree of digital transformation is improved,the fixed cost required by enterprises for OFDI will be reduced,which is conducive to enterprises to cross the productivity threshold,thus promoting the possibility of enterprises’ OFDI.Specifically,the probability of enterprises’ OFDI is increased by 7.7% by digital transformation.From the perspective of the impact of the subdivision dimensions of digital transformation,the digital transformation in the application of Internet and digital technology,data management and analysis,and business model digitization has a promoting effect on enterprises’ OFDI decision-making,but the effect of modern information system is not obvious.In the further research,this study finds that the improvement of the digital transformation level is conducive to enterprises with relatively low productivity to cross the productivity threshold of OFDI,thus improving the possibility of enterprises’ OFDI decision-making.Second,digital transformation promotes Chinese enterprises’ OFDI intensity,and this promotion effect shows heterogeneity in different dimensions of digital transformation.Digital transformation has different impacts on the intensity of OFDI of different types of enterprises.Specifically,the facilitating impact of digital transformation on investment intensity is mainly reflected in non-state-owned enterprises,enterprises in the eastern region,technology-intensive enterprises,and high-income countries(regions).Further analysis shows that,from the perspective of internal factors,the internal efficiency of enterprises can significantly promote the intensity of enterprise investment,and the higher the efficiency is,the stronger the positive effect of digital transformation on enterprise investment intensity is;From the perspective of the external environment,the improvement of the digital economic development level of the host country can strengthen the promotion effect of digital transformation on the OFDI intensity.Third,digital transformation can significantly promote the investment mode of Chinese enterprises choosing cross-border M&A.On average,for every unit of digital transformation,the possibility of enterprises choosing cross-border M&A mode will increase by 10.3%.In terms of the impact of different dimensions of digital transformation,the digital transformation in the application of Internet and digital technology,data management and analysis,and modern information system has a promoting effect on enterprises’ OFDI intensity,but the effect of business model digitization is not obvious.In addition,digital transformation promotes enterprises to choose cross-border M&A mode to enter high technology-intensive industries,and this investment choice effect is more obvious in state-owned enterprises,enterprises in the eastern region,and high-income countries(regions).Furthermore,the mechanism test using the interaction term of variables shows that,at the level of internal factors,the emphasis on differentiation strategy will strengthen the promotion effect of digital transformation on cross-border M&A mode selection.At the external environment level,the greater the distance between formal and informal institutions,the more obvious the promoting effect of digital transformation on enterprises’ choice of cross-border M&A.Fourth,digital transformation is conducive to the improvement of the performance of overseas subsidiaries of OFDI enterprises.In terms of the different dimensions of digital transformation,the application of the Internet and digital technology has the most significant impact on enterprises’ OFDI.The influence of digital transformation on the performance of overseas subsidiaries is more significant for non-state-owned enterprises compared to state-owned enterprises.The promotion effect of digital transformation in high-income countries(regions)on the performance of overseas subsidiaries is greater than that in low-and middle-income countries(regions).Compared with the joint venture model,the sole proprietorship model is more conducive to the digital transformation in overseas subsidiaries to play its role.In addition,the digital transformation after the occurrence of deglobalization will have an obstructive effect on the performance of overseas subsidiaries.Furthermore,the relationship between digital transformation and the performance of overseas subsidiaries of investment enterprises will be regulated by the internal elements and the external environment of the enterprise,the enterprise knowledge integration ability of the parent company and the external security review intensity of the host country can regulate the relationship between digital transformation and the performance of overseas subsidiaries.In the context of the rapid development of the digital economy,the integration degree of digital technology and traditional industry is deepening,and the resulting technological advantage is an important strategic means for China to achieve a high level of foreign investment.Based on the micro-enterprise level,this paper discusses the driving forces of China’s OFDI behavior at each stage from the perspective of digital transformation.In order to further promote China’s OFDI and promote the digital transformation of enterprises,the Chinese government should first improve the accuracy and intensity of support for enterprises’ digital transformation,and actively formulate and implement relevant policies for digital transformation.Secondly,it should accelerate the creation of a “hard environment” for the implementation of digital transformation strategy,and create favorable conditions for enterprises’ digital transformation.Finally,it should improve the support system for China’s enterprises’ OFDI.Chinese enterprises should first pay attention to the enabling mechanism and effect of enterprises’ digital transformation,and it plays an important role in the “going global” of enterprises.Secondly,the “going global” enterprises should combine the different stages of OFDI,and actively and reasonably invest in digital transformation from the Internet and digital technology application,data management and analysis,business model digitization and modern information system.Thirdly,it should pay attention to the cultivation of digital talents,and stimulate the driving force of digital transformation.Finally,China’s “going global” enterprises should adopt differentiated OFDI strategies according to their own advantages. |
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