Abstract Based on the data of Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listed companies from 2007 to 2020, this paper takes the establishment of national innovative pilot cities as a quasi-natural experiment to investigate the impact of national innovative city pilot policies on the digital transformation of enterprises. The study has found that the national pilot policy of innovative cities has significantly promoted the digital transformation of enterprises, and there is a structural difference between the “practical application” level and the“underlying technology” level. The level of “practical application” is the key to the transformation of digital elements driven by policies. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the pilot policy has more significant transformation effects on state-owned enterprises, science and technology enterprises, small and medium-sized enterprises, low-market-oriented cities and large-scale urban enterprises. Mechanism analysis indicates that the current pilot policy mainly exerts the effect of digital transformation through the agglomeration of “digital capital” factors, the agglomeration of “digital skilled labor” and the optimal allocation of production factors. However, the innovation-driven role of the underlying key digital technologies has not been highlighted. The conclusions are not only provide empirical evidence for the orderly promotion of innovative city construction and the realization of the digital transformation of Chinese enterprises, but also provide a policy basis for the government to direct the resources owned by the city towards the underlying digital technological innovation, and to further promote the digital transformation from application-based to innovation-based.
WANG Tingdong,YIN Lili. National Pilot Policy on Innovative Cities, Agglomeration of Digital Factors and Digital Transformation of Enterprises. Economic Survey, 2024, 41(2): 0112.
2024, Vol. 41 
