| Against the backdrop of the Big Data era,with digital resources as production factors and digital transformation as the driving force,the digital economy is a new development model,forcing all traditional businesses to embrace digital transformation.The 20 th Party Congress report states: "We will build a modern industry system,speed up the digital economy,and push forward the integration of the digital economy with the real economy." Driven by practical needs and national regulations,enterprise digitization will undoubtedly become a necessary activity that will affect the competitiveness of enterprises and even the economic development of countries.The digital transformation of companies affects not only their production and business processes,but also the environment in which accounting information is created,processed and presented,which in turn affects the comparability of accounting information.In this context,it is necessary to investigate how enterprise digitization affects the comparability of accounting information and through which mechanisms.Currently,most studies on the economic impact of digital transformation focus on the economic performance and financial position of companies,but there is a lack of research on the comparability of accounting information that is important for the internal management of companies and external stakeholders.Thus,this document focuses on the link between digitization of enterprise and the comparability of accounting information.This paper examines enterprise digitization based on principal-agent theory and empirically investigates the relationship between enterprise digitization and accounting information comparability using data from Chinese listed A-share companies from 2011 to 2021.Firstly,a fixed effects regression model is used to examine the effects of enterprise digitization on accounting information comparability;secondly,three mediating variables-internal control quality,audit quality and information asymmetry-are selected to examine the effects of enterprise digitization mechanisms on accounting information comparability;and finally,a sample was grouped by the characteristics of digital segmentation,the technological characteristics of enterprises,and the degree of competition in the product market,and regression analyses were conducted.The results show that(1)There is a significant positive relationship between enterprise digitization and accounting information comparability,that is enterprise digitization improves the comparability of accounting information;(2)The digitization of enterprises improves the comparability of accounting information by improving the quality of internal control,improving the quality of audit work,and reducing information asymmetries;(3)Artificial Intelligence,Big Data,Blockchain,Cloud Computing and the use of digital technologies have a positive effect on the comparability of accounting information;the digital transformation of high-tech enterprises has had a substantial influence on accounting information comparability;the positive impact of enterprise digitization on accounting information comparability is greater when product markets are highly competitive.The findings of this study will contribute to studies on the economic implications of enterprise digitalization and complement research on factors affecting accounting information comparability.The results will also contribute to the design and implementation of enterprise digitization strategies and accelerate the process of enterprise digitization,including its policy implications. |
