Peer Digital Transformation, Information Spillovers, and Business Productivity Growth

Digital technology innovation and application play a significant role in improving the information environment of an industry and driving productivity growth in related enterprises. This paper examines the impact of digital transformation among peer enterprises on total factor productivity growth and its underlying mechanisms, based on data from Chinese listed companies. The findings indicate that digital transformation among peer enterprises significantly promotes total factor productivity growth, suggesting that digital transformation exhibits horizontal spillover effects within the same industry. Mechanism testing results show that digital transformation among peer firms exerts an information spillover effect by increasing the quantity and improving the quality of information disclosure, thereby driving TFP growth. Furthermore, the higher the technological similarity between firms, the more beneficial digital transformation among peer firms is for facilitating the information spillover mechanism. Additionally, the higher the level of industry competition, the stronger the productivity spillover effect of digital transformation among peer firms. This study expands the scope of research on the spillover effects of corporate digital transformation, providing valuable insights for optimising industry information environments and refining digital transformation policies through digital technology.