Digital Economy and Innovation Efficiency of High-tech Enterprises—On the Moderating Effect of Business Environment

Abstract

As the key driving force of digital-real integration, whether high-tech enterprises can seize the opportunity brought by digital economy and improve innovation efficiency is of great significance to promote the optimization and upgrading of industrial structure and achieve high-quality economic development. Based on the data of China’s digital economy and listed high-tech enterprises from 2015 to 2022, this paper discusses the impact of digital economy on the innovation efficiency of high-tech enterprises and its mechanism. We find that digital economy has a significant effect on the innovation efficiency of high-tech enterprises, and this conclusion is still valid after a series of robustness tests. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the digital economy has a more significant effect on improving the innovation efficiency of high-tech enterprises in non-state-owned, competitive industries and the eastern region. Mechanism analysis shows that digital economy can improve the innovation efficiency of high-tech enterprises by reducing enterprise costs and optimizing resource allocation. Finally, using the moderating effect model, we find that business environment plays a positive moderating role in the relationship between digital economy and innovation efficiency of high-tech enterprises.