How does digital transformation promote residents' consumption upgrading? - Evidence from China's supply and demand restructuring

IF 8.5 1区经济学 Q1 DEVELOPMENT STUDIES

Habitat International Pub Date : 2026-02-01 Epub Date: 2025-12-05 DOI:10.1016/j.habitatint.2025.103679

Fengyu Qi , Panpan Zhang , Maomao Zhang , Dong Guo

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Digital transformation (DIGT) can not only overcome multiple communication barriers in delivering goods and services, but also foster the emergence of new consumption patterns and better cater to residents' diverse preferences, thereby promoting efficient supply–demand matching. By integrating enterprise-level panel data from Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listed enterprises with regional data across 30 Chinese provinces (municipalities) from 2013 to 2022, we investigate the impact and underlying mechanisms through which DIGT drives residents’ consumption upgrading (CONUPG). We find that DIGT can promote CONUPG, with a progressively increasing trend that shifts from western to eastern regions relative to the Hu-Huanyong Line. Heterogeneity analysis finds that the DIGT of large-scale and non-SOE enterprises promotes CONUPG, and the effect of DIGT on CONUPG is more pronounced in the eastern region. Mechanism analysis demonstrates that on the demand side, DIGT facilitates CONUPG by enhancing payment convenience and alleviating liquidity constraints. On the supply side, total factor productivity and commodity circulation efficiency serve as key transmission channels. Furthermore, the effect of DIGT on CONUPG via wholesale efficiency improvement is more substantial than that through retail efficiency. Besides, product quality significantly amplifies the positive impact of DIGT on CONUPG. Further analysis reveals that DIGT, influenced by digital transformation speed, promotes CONUPG only when it reaches a moderate level. Additionally, DIGT has a positive spatial spillover effect on CONUPG. These findings provide a solid theoretical foundation for advancing supply–demand structure adjustments to facilitate CONUPG.

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数字化转型如何促进居民消费升级？——中国供需结构调整的证据

数字化转型不仅可以克服商品和服务交付的多重沟通障碍，还可以促进新的消费模式的出现，更好地迎合居民多样化的偏好，从而促进高效的供需匹配。通过整合2013 - 2022年沪深两市a股上市企业的企业层面面板数据和中国30个省（市）的区域数据，研究了消费升级对居民消费升级的影响及其机制。研究发现，相对于沪环线，DIGT对CONUPG有促进作用，且有由西向东逐渐增强的趋势。异质性分析发现，大型企业和非国有企业的数字化转型促进了企业创新发展，且数字化转型对企业创新发展的影响在东部地区更为明显。机制分析表明，在需求侧，DIGT通过提高支付便利性和缓解流动性约束来促进CONUPG。在供给侧，全要素生产率和商品流通效率是关键的传导渠道。此外，DIGT通过批发效率提高对CONUPG的影响比通过零售效率提高对CONUPG的影响更大。此外，产品质量显著放大了DIGT对CONUPG的正向影响。进一步分析发现，受数字化转型速度的影响，DIGT只有在达到中等水平时才会促进CONUPG。此外，科技创新对科技创新具有正向的空间溢出效应。这些研究结果为推进供需结构调整以促进CONUPG提供了坚实的理论基础。

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来源期刊

Habitat International Multiple-

CiteScore

10.50

自引率

10.30%

发文量

151

审稿时长

38 days

期刊介绍： Habitat International is dedicated to the study of urban and rural human settlements: their planning, design, production and management. Its main focus is on urbanisation in its broadest sense in the developing world. However, increasingly the interrelationships and linkages between cities and towns in the developing and developed worlds are becoming apparent and solutions to the problems that result are urgently required. The economic, social, technological and political systems of the world are intertwined and changes in one region almost always affect other regions.