{"title":"From adoption to empowerment: How artificial intelligence enhances firm productivity","authors":"Wantong Yang, Ning Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.seps.2026.102619","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study examines how artificial intelligence (AI) adoption reshapes firm productivity and supports organizational and environmental transformation. Drawing upon a firm-level panel dataset covering Chinese publicly traded companies between 2003 and 2022, we develop a firm-level AI adoption indicator based on asset structure and apply a multi-dimensional fixed effects model with double machine learning to identify causal effects. Results show that AI significantly enhances total factor productivity (TFP), with stronger impacts in state-owned, high-technology, pollution- and capital-intensive firms, and in regions with weaker institutional environments. Mechanism analysis suggests that AI facilitates internal restructuring, supply chain optimization, and operational efficiency gains. Moreover, AI adoption is linked to nonlinear stock market responses and lower pollution intensity, revealing both financial and green spillovers. This study sheds light on the economic implications of AI adoption from a micro-level perspective and provides empirical foundations for understanding the organizational restructuring and performance feedback associated with digital transformation in firms.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":22033,"journal":{"name":"Socio-economic Planning Sciences","volume":"107 ","pages":"Article 102619"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2000,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Socio-economic Planning Sciences","FirstCategoryId":"96","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0038012126002065","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2026/9/28 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ECONOMICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This study examines how artificial intelligence (AI) adoption reshapes firm productivity and supports organizational and environmental transformation. Drawing upon a firm-level panel dataset covering Chinese publicly traded companies between 2003 and 2022, we develop a firm-level AI adoption indicator based on asset structure and apply a multi-dimensional fixed effects model with double machine learning to identify causal effects. Results show that AI significantly enhances total factor productivity (TFP), with stronger impacts in state-owned, high-technology, pollution- and capital-intensive firms, and in regions with weaker institutional environments. Mechanism analysis suggests that AI facilitates internal restructuring, supply chain optimization, and operational efficiency gains. Moreover, AI adoption is linked to nonlinear stock market responses and lower pollution intensity, revealing both financial and green spillovers. This study sheds light on the economic implications of AI adoption from a micro-level perspective and provides empirical foundations for understanding the organizational restructuring and performance feedback associated with digital transformation in firms.
期刊介绍:
Studies directed toward the more effective utilization of existing resources, e.g. mathematical programming models of health care delivery systems with relevance to more effective program design; systems analysis of fire outbreaks and its relevance to the location of fire stations; statistical analysis of the efficiency of a developing country economy or industry.
Studies relating to the interaction of various segments of society and technology, e.g. the effects of government health policies on the utilization and design of hospital facilities; the relationship between housing density and the demands on public transportation or other service facilities: patterns and implications of urban development and air or water pollution.
Studies devoted to the anticipations of and response to future needs for social, health and other human services, e.g. the relationship between industrial growth and the development of educational resources in affected areas; investigation of future demands for material and child health resources in a developing country; design of effective recycling in an urban setting.