Research on the Impact of Digital Trade and Cross-border Mergers and Acquisitions:Theoretical Mechanisms and Evidence from China
According to the 2022 Annual Statistical Bulletin of China's OFDI,China's OFDI flow was US$163.12 billion in 2022,ranking second globally,and cross-border mergers and acquisitions(M&A)remained the main form of OFDI.Relying on the Internet,artificial intelligence,big data and blockchain,and other emerging digital technologies,digital trade has experienced explosive growth,which significantly reduces transaction costs,promotes the in-depth embedding of digital products in the global production and division of labor system,has a far-reaching impact on the reshaping of the global value chain,and creates a huge digital dividend for the global economy.Therefore,in the era of"digital-driven trade"globalization,how to make full use of and give full play to the superiority of China's digital economy,promote high-level outward investment with the high-quality development of digital trade,and form a"Chinese model"of cross-border M&As by enterprises empowered by digital trade is of great practical value and theoretical significance.Based on highly detailed global combined digital trade and cross-border M&A data from 2000 to 2020,this study comprehensively explores the impact and mechanism of digital trade development on cross-border M&A.Based on the global sample,the synergistic development strategy of China's digital trade development and high-level opening-up is further explored.A series of estimation tests led to the following conclusions:First,digital trade contributes to cross-border M&As,and the reduction of technological and institutional distance and the reinforcement of factor endowment differences between countries are the channels through which digital trade promotes cross-border M&As.Second,digital trade has a heterogeneous impact on cross-border M&A.For digital product types,exports of consumer electronics and electronic components have a greater positive effect on firms'cross-border M&As;digital trade contributes more to firms'horizontal M&As than to vertical M&As;and for country pair types,digital trade has the greatest catalytic effect on cross-border M&As in south-south country pairs.Finally,in terms of the governance mode of digital trade,the promotion effect of digital trade on the scale and effectiveness of cross-border M&As is strongest under the open mode.Compared with the global sample,the promotion effect of digital trade on the effectiveness of cross-border M&As is more significant in the Chinese context,and the positive impact of Chinese digital trade on the introduction of cross-border M&As is stronger than that of going out.The marginal contributions of this study can be reflected in three aspects.First,it complements and expands the empirical evidence of cross-border M&A of enterprises under the perspective of the digital economy.This study comprehensively examines the relationship between digital trade and cross-border M&As in terms of scale,quantity,and other impacts as well as their intrinsic mechanism through the construction of multidimensional country-to-dimension digital trade and cross-border M&A indices,forming a certain degree of expansiveness and innovativeness in the field of research on the incentive effect of digital trade.Second,it expands the theoretical innovation led by refining the micro-data on digital trade and cross-border M&A.Most of the existing literature on cross-border M&A uses the Thomson Financial SDC Platinum database.In contrast,the Capital IQ database used in this study covers more detailed data on M&A characteristics,including more than ten types of M&A status information such as M&A withdrawn,canceled,completed,successful,discontinued,and unknown status,which not only focuses on changes in M&A results and quantity but also identifies the willingness to change and M&A quality,which greatly reduces the error of the research conclusions.It provides strong evidence support for exploring the logical coupling of digital trade development and high-quality outward investment in the context of high-level opening-up.Third,it provides clear and actionable policy considerations with highly granular and practically rooted findings.With the support of highly detailed data,this study not only uses global samples to identify the heterogeneous impact of digital trade on cross-border M&A and its role in channels but also explores the impact of digital trade on the effectiveness of cross-border M&A and the impact of different modes of digital trade governance on cross-border M&A.Moreover,based on the reality of China,it focuses on Chinese samples,estimates the test of digital trade and cross-border M&A,and seeks to optimize the path of Chinese enterprises"going out"from both perspectives.It also focuses on Chinese samples to investigate digital trade and cross-border M&A,which provides policy references for comprehensively enhancing China's discourse and influence in international investment rule-making.
Digital TradeCross-border Merger and AcquisitionDigital ServicesHeterogeneity
万方数据
维普
