Digital economy enabling high-quality development of agricultural Enterprises: Interaction, inner mechanism and strategic orientation

This paper selects agriculture-related listed companies from 2003 to 2023 as a research sample, and deeply studies how the digital economy empowers high-quality development of agriculture-related enterprises research. The study shows that the digital economy significantly promotes the high-quality development of agriculture-related enterprises. Mechanism analysis found that the digital economy can indirectly promote the high-quality development of agriculture-related enterprises by increasing the operating leverage. Meanwhile, the moderating effect test shows that the management cost plays a significant moderating role between the development of digital economy and the high-quality development of agriculture-related enterprises. In addition, the heterogeneity test shows that the effect of digital economy development on the high-quality development of agriculture-related enterprises is significantly different between enterprises audited by Big Four accounting firms or not. This study reveals that the digital economy greatly promotes high-quality rural development by increasing operating leverage and reducing management costs. At the same time, this study provides an empirical basis for understanding the role of the digital economy in the high-quality development of agriculture-related enterprises and offers strategic guidance for agriculture-related enterprises to leverage the digital economy to promote rural development.